


In Good Hands

by pierrot



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Assassination Attempt(s), Bodyguard, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Safehouses, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 15:41:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10193225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pierrot/pseuds/pierrot
Summary: A serious threat necessitated serious security. That’s what Nino told Sho, anyway, and he wasn’t in a position to protest—even when the men assigned to protecting his life were nothing like what he expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The tags probably give the impression that this fic is a lot more serious/dramatic than it is. Really, it's just a tropey excuse for OT3 happenings.
> 
> The PTSD mentioned is only implied and not dealt with in much detail.

  
Sho liked Nino. He was young to be one of Sho’s father’s top staff members, even younger than Sho himself, but he had frequently proven age wasn’t a match for skill. There were few who were better at navigating the complex day-to-day matters that came with being the governor of a major city, and none who seemed to understand as Nino did the importance of Sho’s work as a prosecutor of the state.  
  
Right at that moment, however, he was being a pain.  
  
“You don’t have a choice,” Nino said, lounging in one of the chairs in Sho’s office. “We have reason to believe your father is under serious threat due to his attempts to bring about a tightening of anti-gang laws, which means you are also at risk. And not just because you’re his son—being a public prosecutor doesn’t exactly make you very popular either.”  
  
“I know that, which is why I now have a bodyguard following me around everywhere. At your advice. An extra security detail is overkill; Ohno is enough.”  
  
It had been an adjustment for Sho to have someone with him all the time purely for the sake of protecting his safety. Ohno made it easier. He was quiet and unobtrusive enough not to get in the way of Sho’s work, but also surprisingly easy get along with—Sho would even go so far as to call him a friend. Ohno’s presence was one of the few soothing influences in Sho’s stressful life, and for that he was grateful.  
  
He didn’t need any new people coming in and throwing everything off-kilter.  
  
“Well, too bad,” said Nino. “It’s already been decided.” He met Sho’s frustrated glare for a few seconds and then his face softened as he leaned forward against the desk separating them. “Look, it’ll probably just be for a few weeks. Tensions have been escalating recently due to all of the recent gang splits, but things will settle. They always do.”  
  
Sho swallowed the irritation on his tongue and pursed his lips. “A few weeks?” he asked.  
  
“You won’t even notice they’re there.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho did notice; it was difficult for him to not. SP Officers Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun were not what he’d been expecting at all; both were young, handsome and surprisingly flashy for members of the Security Police. Aiba kept his hair dyed a few shades lighter than its natural colour and couldn’t seem to help beaming at people with a dazzling smile that ruined his attempts at maintaining a serious expression, whereas Matsumoto just had one of those faces that demanded a second look—all sharp angles and loud features with an unfairly pretty set of long eyelashes.  
  
It wasn’t just their physical appearances that called attention. There was an obvious confidence and charisma that shone from both of them, unsuppressable. The pair had clearly worked together for a long time, and it was easy to be lulled into watching their comfortable interactions—the synchronised movements, the silent conversations, the gentle teasing and bickering. Soon enough, the other employees at Sho’s workplace became obsessed with the newest additions to their offices, swapping theories and gossip about the two men as if they were celebrities.  
  
Sho liked to think he remained unaffected.  
  
He called Aiba and Matsumoto into his office after they’d been with him for a week to have a chat. Just a friendly meeting to see how they were faring and maybe find out when exactly this entire circus would be over. Sho was good at talking; it was a major part his work. He was certain he could work out a more agreeable arrangement with the two men.  
  
Facing a short-tempered Matsumoto was quickly revealed to be far more daunting than clashing with any belligerent defence attorney.  
  
“You don’t need to concern yourself with what we’re doing or why we’re doing it,” said Matsumoto, cutting Sho’s fishing expedition woefully short. Condescension dripped from his voice and Sho recoiled. “We have our orders and they come from a place much higher than you. We won’t get in the way of your work, so leave us be to do our job.”  
  
If they were playing a game of ‘good cop/bad cop’, then Aiba was definitely the good cop.  
  
“I think what Jun is trying to say, Sho”—he was always Sho to Aiba, right from the first time they met—“is that we just to make sure that everyone is happy. Us being here and protecting you the way we see fit will make us happy, our bosses happy, your bosses happy, and you, too. I promise.”  
  
Aiba smiled placatingly at him. “Let’s just all try to get along, okay? Because I can tell you now, it’s really not a good idea to make either of us unhappy.”  
  
‘Good cop’ was a rather relative concept, Sho discovered.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
The changes to Sho’s life weren’t all bad. Aiba turned out to be a pretty great guy, and Sho became increasingly fond of his cheerful presence lightening the mood in between difficult cases. He actually took an interest in Sho’s work, asking questions Sho indulged to the best of his ability within the constraints of confidentiality. It was probably a little sad that Sho kept turning to the people assigned to protect him for friendship, but ambition had dwindled his social life years ago, and Aiba made it easy to regard him as more than a temporary bodyguard.  
  
Matsumoto, on the other hand, still didn’t seem to like him. There was no outright hostility, just a clearly marked distinction in the professional nature of their relationship that prevented him from giving Sho any kind of friendly concern. He did, however, appear to like Ohno, and it was weird for Sho to see how he softened in his conversations with the other man. Sho supposed if both Aiba and Ohno were fond of Matsumoto, then that was enough to speak well of his character. He just wished that some of those kinder inclinations were more often turned his way.  
  
It was hard to feel patient with Matsumoto when he had to be anal about following strict procedures, even after weeks passing with no apparent threat actually coming Sho’s way. Sho suspected Matsumoto of taking extra pains to be difficult just to get a rise out of him; after all, there had surely been no need to interrogate Sho’s sister when she stopped by the prosecutor offices to visit.  
  
Aiba took pity on Sho that day. He brought over a late lunch from Sho’s favourite soba restaurant, and the unexpected treat tempered Sho’s bad mood slightly.  
  
“Don’t worry too much about Jun,” Aiba said, leaning against the arm of a chair as Sho ate. “He has his reasons for the way he acts.”  
  
Sho might have made a scathing retort had his mouth not been full.  
  
“The woman who stopped by earlier—she’s the one in the picture on your desk, right? Girlfriend?”  
  
Aiba had been elsewhere during the initial disastrous encounter between Matsumoto and Sho’s sister (which probably explained why the matter had escalated unnecessarily) and clearly no one had bothered to catch him up on all of the details.  
  
Sho swallowed and took a sip of water. “She’s my younger sister,” he explained.  
  
“Ah, I should have known. She seemed charming. And very attractive. Just like you!”  
  
Aiba looked over at him with a twinkle in his eyes and one of those dazzling smiles and— _oh_.  
  
Sho understood the feelings of the receptionists on the first floor now.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Almost a month had passed with Aiba and Matsumoto continuing their presence in Sho’s life when everything changed.  
  
Sho was on his way out of the offices with Satomi, discussing the upcoming murder trial they were both working on. It was late, which was nothing unusual for them that week, and he was just offering to call her a ride home when there was a sudden shout.  
  
Before he even realised what was happening, he found himself thrown to the ground, body pressed to the cold concrete and strong hands on his back. Four shots rang out, a sickening, deafening sound, and Sho was certain in that moment that he was about to die.  
  
Later, he would find out that three of those shots had been from Matsumoto. He’d noticed the gunman approaching and acted early, only allowing him to get away one shot before taking care of him. The bullet from the assailant hit a window, shattering glass, but mercifully not causing any harm.  
  
Sho never saw the man. He was dead.  
  
Though the entire incident was over in just a few minutes, with none of their party injured, Satomi was incredibly shaken up and Sho couldn’t blame her. He sat with her in their building’s lobby—Aiba had whisked them inside for relative safety as soon as the shooting ended—offering what reassurances and kind words he could until the police escorted her home.  
  
It was all a bit of a blur. Sho could feel his mouth moving, emitting words that sounded distantly soothing, but they were drowned out by the thumping roar of his heart racing.  
  
Aiba pulled him aside as soon as they both had a moment free from the police’s questioning. “Are you okay?” he asked gently, looking at Sho with soft concern in his eyes.  
  
Sho nodded, too quickly, and attempted a reassuring smile. “Yes. Thank you. I mean, you got us out of the way so quickly that it was…”  
  
He paused as he met Aiba’s eyes. The way he was looking at Sho made him unable to lie.  
  
“Scary,” he admitted with a heavy sigh.  
  
Aiba smiled at him. “It was,” he said, rubbing his hand over Sho’s arm. “But it’s over now. And we’re still here to keep you safe, I promise.”  
  
There was a certain warmth to Aiba that made it so easy for Sho to want to fall into his touch.  
  
“I think the police still want to talk to you a bit more, so if you don’t mind, I’m just going to go check up on Jun.” Aiba bit his lip, looking hesitant. “I mean, I don’t want to leave you… I shouldn’t, right? That’s not my job, it’s just…”  
  
Sho didn’t understand what Aiba was wanting to say, but he could recognise the worry in his eyes.  
  
“Go,” Sho said with a nod. “I’ll be fine. Make sure Matsumoto’s alright.”  
  
Relief and gratitude washed over Aiba’s face. “Thank you,” he said and squeezed Sho’s arm. “We’ll be back soon.”  
  
Talking to the police took up most of Sho’s attention, but he still tried to keep an eye on Aiba and Matsumoto when he could. Observing their behaviour proved interesting. Sho was used to seeing them both full of confidence, but their expressions now were uneasy and the subtle touches they exchanged seemed different than usual. There was almost a tenderness to them.  
  
Of course, the change could be attributed to the unexpected attack they’d just faced, but Sho couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to it than that. Something in his gut told him there was.  
  
He didn’t get much of a chance to ponder the idea before Aiba and Matsumoto returned to their duties, acting the same as usual. They convinced the police to let Sho return home for the night and save any further questions for later.  
  
Conversation between them on the trip back was muted. Sho’s adrenaline quickly gave way to exhaustion, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho didn’t get to sleep in until his alarm rang the next morning. He was woken by the sound of his intercom buzzing insistently, ripping him from his deep slumber. It was still dark when he stumbled through his apartment, and he almost tripped over the briefcase he left on the floor the previous night on his way to the intercom.  
  
“Yes?” he mumbled into the receiver.  
  
_“We need to talk. Can you let us up?”_  
  
That was Matsumoto’s voice. Sho might have felt some appreciation that it wasn’t some unknown assassin coming after him again, but he was too sleep-deprived to feel anything but irritation.  
  
“ _Now?_ Do you realise what time it is?”  
  
There was no response. Sho sighed and pressed the button to unlock the main entrance to his building.  
  
He only had time to turn some lights on and throw on an old sweater before there was a sharp knock on his front door. When he opened it, Aiba and Matsumoto were standing there, looking far too serious for Sho’s liking.  
  
Aiba’s expression broke with his natural curiosity. “Ooh, Sho’s place!” he said, barging right past Sho without a proper greeting to take a look around. The security of Sho’s building had been deemed acceptable enough not to need extra checks, so this was the first time that Aiba and Matsumoto had stepped foot inside his apartment.  
  
Sho looked at Matsumoto, eyebrows raised. He received a small shrug in response, and Sho stepped back to allow him through.  
  
“So,” said Sho, once the door was closed. “What is so important that you couldn’t wait until a more reasonable hour?”  
  
Matsumoto glanced at Aiba for a second before turning to face Sho. “There’s been a change of plans. We’ve been ordered to move you to a safe house. Immediately.”  
  
“A _safe house_? Who exactly is ordering this?”  
  
“That’s not your concern.”  
  
A shocked laugh escaped Sho’s lips. “I’m pretty sure it is my concern. You’re just SPs; you can’t suddenly order me to follow you to some safe house.”  
  
Another unsteady glance passed between Aiba and Matsumoto. “We have certain… special authority that most SPs don’t possess,” Matsumoto said slowly, not quite looking at Sho. “And this is for your protection, which is what we’re ultimately here for. The threat to your life is more serious that we initially thought. It’s not safe for you to stay here right now.”  
  
It didn’t escape Sho’s notice how quickly Matsumoto changed the subject away from whatever it was that he and Aiba were reluctant to divulge. Something was definitely fishy and Sho didn’t like it. He frowned, lips pursing.  
  
“No.”  
  
Matsumoto narrowed his eyes. “No? Sorry, but you can’t say no to this.”  
  
“I just did. I can’t disappear somewhere all of a sudden. I have work. Ongoing cases. An upcoming murder trial in which I’m acting as first chair. You’re supposed to be here to protect my safety, not interfere in my life.”  
  
As he spoke, Sho could see Matsumoto becoming increasingly agitated, brow furrowing and eyes dark.  
  
That was Aiba’s cue to step in.  
  
“It’s only a temporary thing. A week, maybe—two tops. The world won’t fall apart with you gone for two weeks, Sho. We’ve talked to your bosses already and they understand completely. Ishihara can take over your murder case for the time being and they should be able to get continuances on anything you were supposed to have scheduled while you’re unavailable. It’ll all be fine.”  
  
Sho blinked. “You managed to sort all of that out in the, what, five hours since I last saw you? Don’t you sleep?”  
  
Aiba smiled. “We’re efficient. And very motivated to move fast with this, so if you please, Sho, it would be really helpful if you could start packing some essentials.”  
  
It was rapidly becoming clear that neither Aiba nor Matsumoto were inclined to budge on the issue. Sho really did not want to acquiesce, but he wasn’t sure whether he had any choice.  
  
He looked slowly between the expectant faces staring back at him. “Let me call Nino first,” he said finally.  
  
“Nino? You mean Ninomiya Kazunari?” Aiba asked brightly.  
  
“Yes. You know him?”  
  
“Yep!”  
  
Sho waited for an elaboration that never came. “Are you going to tell me how you know him?”  
  
“Nope!”  
  
Sho sighed. “I’m going to go make a call in my room. Wait here and don’t touch anything.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Matsumoto said. “We could do something about those dirty dishes in your sink. Don’t want them growing any mould while you’re gone.”  
  
Sho thought seriously about flipping him off before he left the room.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
“Hey, Nino. I know it’s early and you probably hate me right now for waking you up but I promise it’s important—Aiba and Matsumoto just came to my apartment talking about moving me to a safe house and I need to know if you’re aware of anything about this.”  
  
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line and then Sho heard Nino clear his throat.  
  
“Okay, first of all, Sho, the nice thing to do when talking to a friend after almost getting _shot_ is to let them know that you’re okay. So tell me: are you okay?”  
  
All of the unexpected commotion of the past ten minutes had caused Sho to completely forget about the shooting. Which was ridiculous considering it was the reason why Aiba and Matsumoto were currently in his apartment making unreasonable demands. It somehow felt like a distant memory at that point, for all that it happened only hours ago.  
  
“Right,” he said, feeling sheepish. “I’m fine, Nino. Not even a scratch.”  
  
“Good. Now, what is this about a safe house?”  
  
“I don’t know, Aiba and Matsumoto just sprung the whole thing on me. Said they’ve been ordered to take me to a safe house for a little while, but I didn’t know they could do that.”  
  
“Well… no one’s told me anything…”  
  
“But?” Sho prompted, hearing Nino’s hesitation.  
  
“If that’s what they’re saying, then you should probably listen to them.”  
  
Sho sighed. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Nino? Something I should be worried about?”  
  
A long pause followed his question, and then, “No.”  
  
Nino was definitely hiding something. Sho just had no idea what, or if there was any way he was going to find out.  
  
“You never mentioned that you know Aiba,” he said, hoping to elicit some kind of reaction from Nino.  
  
“Because I like to pretend that I don’t. It’s not good for my image to be associated with someone that ridiculous.” Sho rolled his eyes. “But yes, I do. Which is why you can trust me when I say that you’re in good hands with him.”  
  
It was frustrating how easy it was for Nino to turn the conversation around.  
  
“Don’t worry about Aiba, Sho. He has your best interests at heart, I promise. Jun too.”  
  
“Jun?”  
  
“Yes. Jun. Maybe you’ve noticed him around lately—annoyingly handsome guy about your height, spends a lot of time perfecting that cold, ‘come too close and I’ll kill you’ stare? Ring any bells?”  
  
Nino’s sarcasm was a little too much to bear before Sho had been given a chance to drink his morning coffee.  
  
“Just didn’t realise the two of you were on a first name basis, that’s all.”  
  
“Does it bother you? I know a lot of people, Sho. It’s kind of my job.”  
  
Sho was silent. He heard muffled sounds of movement crackling through the phone and a soft, barely-stifled yawn. It reminded him that he likely woke Nino up, and guilt pricked through him at the thought of causing the other man trouble he had not asked for so early in the morning.  
  
“Listen,” Nino said, “I’ll call around and see what I can find out for you. Just follow along with Aiba and Jun for now. I’ll get in touch when I know more.”  
  
Sho smiled. Whatever else was going on, he knew that he could count on Nino at the end of the day.  
  
“Thanks, Nino. You know you’re my favourite, right?”  
  
“Yeah, whatever. You owe me.”  
  
“Always.”  
  
After ending the call and putting his phone aside, Sho slumped back onto his bed. He wondered how long he could remain in the privacy of his bedroom before either Aiba or Matsumoto grew too impatient waiting for him.  
  
Not long, apparently. A loud knock on the door interrupted the nap that seemed so near, and Aiba came waltzing into his bedroom without bothering to wait for an invitation.  
  
Sho cracked one eye open at him. “Do you have any sense of personal boundaries?”  
  
“Sometimes.” Aiba walked over to Sho and started tugging at his arms. “Come on. Much as I like seeing a hot guy all laid out on bed in front of me, we really should get moving. The point of us coming over here so early is so that we can leave before anyone can think to put a trace on us.”  
  
The innuendo made Sho flush and he cursed himself for how obvious his reaction probably was. It had definitely been far too long since he’d been able to get any kind of... _relief_ for him to be responding so easily to such casual teasing.  
  
He shrugged off Aiba’s hold as he righted himself, avoiding eye contact. “I told Nino what you told me,” he said—an attempt at providing a distraction from his flustered state.  
  
“That’s okay.”  
  
Sho looked at Aiba then. “You know, I’m going to find out how it is you guys know each other sooner or later.”  
  
“Probably.” Aiba shrugged, unconcerned. “No time for that now, though. You need to pack before Jun decides to do it for you.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Few things compared to the relief Sho felt twenty minutes later when he heard his phone ring and saw Nino’s name on the screen.  
  
“Nino!” he almost shouted, overwhelming gratitude evident in his voice.  
  
He heard Nino snort. “That’s how you should always answer the phone when I call you.”  
  
“Please tell me that there’s been some sort of mix up and I don’t have to spend any more time stuck with these two nightmares you consider friends.”  
  
A bundled pair of socks hit him in the face courtesy of Matsumoto and Sho grimaced. “Ow.”  
  
Nino laughed. “Trouble in paradise already?”  
  
“They’re the ones that insisted we didn’t have time to waste but they won’t let me pack in peace. They keep criticising everything.”  
  
Sho knew he was whining, but it was justified. Aiba had quickly deemed Sho’s attempt to pack an activity requiring his participation, and his loud commentary on every choice Sho made lured Matsumoto into taking an interest. Haste was abandoned in favour of the enjoyment they both seemed to glean from picking apart his entire wardrobe.  
  
“Why?” Nino said. “Did you try to pack five identical pairs of camouflage pants?”  
  
“No.” Sho frowned and lowered his voice to a whisper. “They’re not identical.”  
  
“Tell Nino that all of this would go a lot faster if Sho would agree to leave behind his ugly fake jeans,” Aiba called from his spot on Sho’s bed.  
  
“Oh. Those. Seriously, Sho, just leave them behind. They’re awful.”  
  
“Hey, if I’m going to be stuck hiding out somewhere instead of doing my job, then I at least want to be comfortable. Those pants are comfortable.”  
  
“Well, you definitely should be thinking about being comfortable. Sorry, Sho, but I called around and this whole safe house thing is _legit_ legit. As in, the kind of legit that means we don’t get to ask too many questions, and trying to fight it will just end up with some very unfriendly men knocking at your door. So play nice with Aiba and Jun and I’ll be waiting here for your happy return.”  
  
Sho’s shoulders slumped and he tilted his head back against his wardrobe door, eyes squeezing shut as he tried to come to terms with what Nino was saying. He’d known it was a slim chance that he would be able to escape this ludicrous plan, but he’d still held some hope in his heart of there having been some confusion.  
  
Sho felt powerless. He hated feeling powerless.  
  
“I have work, Nino. Cases that I’ve poured hours into building.”  
  
“And there are other prosecutors who will take good care of those cases for you. Everyone is very understanding of your circumstances, Sho—I mean, it’s not as if the shooting last night is being kept a secret.” There was sympathy in Nino’s voice, but it hardly made Sho feel better. “You’re overdue for a vacation, anyway.”  
  
“I use my vacation time to travel.”  
  
“Oh, you’ll be travelling. Don’t worry about that.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
‘Travelling’ turned out to mean a long car trip out of the city. “It’s not the safest place for you right now,” Aiba said with the kind of cheerful demeanour that should be reserved for discussing fun weekend plans, not potential assassination plots.  
  
Sho was still too irritated and exhausted to try make any conversation during the journey. He rested his head against the window next to him in the back seat and attempted to sleep—a difficult task when Matsumoto seemed determined to make the ride anything but smooth.  
  
The third time Sho was torn from sleep by the honking of a horn, he was ready to snap.  
  
Aiba beat him to it.  
  
“Jun,” he said, tone sharper than Sho had ever heard it. “It defeats the purpose of us being stealthy if you drive like this. We don’t want to get pulled over.” His voice softened when he added, “What’s wrong? You’ve been in a bad mood all morning.”  
  
Sho didn’t know how Aiba could tell. Matsumoto seemed much the same as ever to him.  
  
The car slowed and steadied slightly but Matsumoto said nothing.  
  
“Kiko?” Aiba said.  
  
The sigh that came in response was loud enough for Sho to hear it from the back seat.  
  
Another pause followed.  
  
“We shouldn’t be talking about this.” Matsumoto kept his voice low. “It’s not professional.”  
  
“Was it professional when you hid Sho’s ugly pants?” Aiba teased. “Anyway, Sho’s asleep. It’s just you and me, so talk—we promised not to hide our feelings from each other, remember?”  
  
There was still more silence from Matsumoto and Sho realised he was likely checking the rearview mirror to ensure that Sho really was asleep. Not wanting to be caught listening, he forced himself to relax as much as possible, breaths coming steady. Faking a snore was probably overkill.  
  
“We’re done,” Matsumoto said eventually. “Telling her that I would be out of contact for at least a week was the final straw.”  
  
“You okay?”  
  
“Not like we were together that long. It’s just… frustrating.”  
  
“Well, as soon as we have a night free, I’m taking you out so you can forget all about her! Nothing like an Aiba Masaki Extravaganza to remind you of what’s truly important.”  
  
“Friendship?”  
  
“Sex. Good old fashioned, no strings attached _sex_.”  
  
There was a sudden laugh, and Sho realised with some surprise that it was coming from Matsumoto. He’d seen Matsumoto laugh before: from a distance, revealing a flash of white teeth and lines around his eyes. But he’d never heard the sound so loud or so close.  
  
It got under his skin.  
  
“The last three times you took me out, I ended up in your bed with no pants on.”  
  
Sho barely held back from choking.  
  
“And the next time, you won’t kick me out when I try to join you. It’s inevitable, Matsujun. We’re meant to be, you and me.”  
  
Aiba half-sung the last words, unable to help from giggling as he did.  
  
“You know very well that I’d sweep you off your feet if I thought that’s what you actually wanted.”  
  
Sho knew he definitely shouldn’t be listening to this. It was almost impossible to keep his breathing steady, and he was sure that if Matsumoto chose to check the rearview mirror, he would see Sho’s face twitching.  
  
At the same time, Sho wanted to open his eyes and sneak a glance at Matsumoto; to see the unguarded smile on his face at that moment.  
  
The conversation between Aiba and Matsumoto was abandoned as Aiba began serenading Matsumoto in an increasingly ridiculous fashion (Sho had to assume Aiba had no idea what some of the English phrases he used actually meant). There was no way for Sho to plausibly pretend to remain asleep through the racket, so he opened his eyes, eventually joining in with Aiba’s singing.  
  
The rest of the trip passed faster after that. Sho forgot all about his earlier irritation.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
When they arrived at their destination, Sho couldn’t say where it was they were. He never bothered to ask the location of their hideout, nor did he pay much attention to the route they took during the drive. Although it was out of character for him to not want to know, it felt preferable this way—easier to forget about the life he’d temporarily left behind when this entire exercise seemed detached from reality.  
  
The house was nicer than Sho expected. One story, enclosed by high fences; a peaceful retreat in a quiet neighbourhood. Inside contained two bedrooms with Western-style beds: a queen in the master and two singles in the second room. Enough space to sleep three comfortably.  
  
Sho stopped in the middle of the living room after taking a quick look around and nodded at Aiba. “So, what—will I be in the master bedroom and the two of you in the other?” He hesitated, unsure of how to word his follow-up question. The conversation he’d overheard in the car had given him a new perspective on the relationship between Aiba and Matsumoto, but it was difficult to navigate. “Or—”  
  
“We’ll all be sleeping in the room with the singles,” said Matsumoto, returning from his inspection of the windows. “Aiba and I will sleep in shifts, so we’ll use the same bed. It’s safer that way.”  
  
“But—”  
  
“No buts.”  
  
Aiba smiled at him. “If you’re really set on sleeping in the big bed, then we could always share… but I don’t think Jun would go for that.”  
  
Matsumoto rolled his eyes. “Get your bags and move them into the room. We have some ground rules to discuss.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Spending every waking minute with Aiba and Matsumoto in an enclosed space allowed Sho to quickly learn a few facts about his new housemates.  
  
Fact one: both men had a rather lax relationship with the concept of remaining fully clothed. It was possibly fair, considering the great condition of their bodies, that shirts would not always be seen as a necessity. Sho could appreciate the sight of lean torsos and well-defined abdominal muscles. He was _less_ appreciative of Aiba’s habit of walking naked from the bathroom to the bedroom after his shower. Unexpected dick sightings were not good for his heart (or his libido).  
  
Fact two: being officers of the Security Police unsurprisingly entailed maintaining fitness and physique, and that was achieved by working out. A lot. The lack of space didn’t prove a hindrance to daily sessions of push ups and crunches that Aiba and Matsumoto attacked with competitive gusto. Sho joined them on occasion, but the irregular gym visits he had made when time permitted during his years as a lawyer were no match for their extensive training. He further found that his worsening libido situation was not helped by so often seeing attractive men sweaty and breathless right in front of him.  
  
Fact three: Aiba and Matsumoto were both good cooks. Every night they took the time to prepare a plentiful, delicious meal that always left Sho feeling happy and satisfied. It was almost domestic the way they would split the tasks (Sho took charge of washing up) and sit together at the dining table with good food and relaxed conversation. This routine had no notable impact on his libido, but it did have a different kind of impact on his heart.  
  
Fact four: there was no such thing as privacy. Thanks to Matsumoto’s strict rules and schedules, Sho could count on almost always having someone only a few feet away from him. It was unnerving to constantly feel watched. Even in the bathroom, he couldn’t relax, feeling as if any extra time he took would be noticed. As a consequence, alleviating his pesky libido problem ended up being frustratingly unachievable.  
  
Sho reached a breaking point.  
  
The opportunity presented itself too easily. Aiba was asleep and Matsumoto received a call; one of those important ones that caused him to stalk away into the seclusion of the master bedroom with a look at Sho that said _don’t try to listen_.  
  
Sho knew from paying careful attention to past calls that Matsumoto would likely be at least ten minutes. An idea pricked at him, stupid and reckless, but he was frustrated enough not to care. He was tired of feeling like a prisoner, babysat by people who weren’t even older than him. He was tired of being cooped up inside, with no word about when he would finally be able to leave.  
  
Without giving himself a chance to change his mind, Sho tiptoed into the bedroom where Aiba was sleeping and blindly searched through his suitcase for the packet he knew was stashed away in a side pocket. Sho rarely smoked anymore—he decided to kick the habit a few years ago—but he still kept a deck on hand for moments of weakness.  
  
After finding what he wanted, he carefully moved through the house and out the back door to the small yard at the rear of the property.  
  
The first, nervous inhale choked him. Enough time had passed since Sho’s last cigarette that there was little pleasure in the act, just a bitter taste in his throat.  
  
Smoking wasn’t the point; not really. He was just using it as an excuse to be outside of the house, finally clutching a small sliver of freedom. It reminded him of being a teenager: those times when he would sneak out without his parents’ knowledge; minor acts of rebellion that made him feel in control. He needed that now.  
  
After four short drags he flicked the cigarette away, feeling light-headed, and turned to the door. Sho thought it better to cut his respite short and try to make it to the bathroom before Matsumoto noticed anything awry.  
  
He’d barely stepped back inside when strong hands grabbed him and threw him back against the wall.  
  
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”  
  
Sho’s vision was filled with the sight of Matsumoto right before him, hissing through his teeth. His arm was pressed painfully against Sho’s breastbone, making his chest tighten, and his eyes burned with cold fire.  
  
“I was just—”  
  
“No, you weren’t just anything. You endangered yourself the moment you stepped outside these doors, and for what?” Matsumoto leaned closer, nostrils flaring as he caught Sho’s scent, and he snarled. “A smoke? Give me a fucking break. You need a smoke so bad, you _tell_ me.”  
  
As he spoke, Matsumoto pressed tighter against Sho, gaze unwavering, and Sho was unable to do anything but hold his stare.  
  
“I’m supposed to be protecting you here, but I can’t do that if you disappear the moment I take my eyes off you. I almost drew my gun out on you, do you realise? Did it even cross your mind that I’d find you gone and think the worst?”  
  
Sho was vaguely aware that Matsumoto expected him to say something, but he couldn’t. Matsumoto was flush against him, emitting crushing, overwhelming heat, and all Sho’s traitorous brain could think about was every point on his body that could feel Matsumoto directly, pressing him hard into the wall, all firm lines and no give. How the only space that separated them was the scant few centimetres between their mouths, and how little it would take to close the gap.  
  
The silence held too long and something in Matsumoto’s expression shifted. He pulled back slightly with a puzzled frown, and then his eyes drifted slowly down, tracing every line of Sho’s body.  
  
Sho stopped breathing for a few seconds.  
  
Matsumoto’s eyebrows drew together and he looked back up at Sho, gaze darkly assessing. Sho tried to read the look in his eyes—anger? disgust?—but it was hard to think straight when he kept getting distracted by the feeling of warm breath on his lips.  
  
“I—”  
  
The words got stuck in his throat. His mind scrambled for an explanation, an excuse, anything, but none would come. There was truly no good way to explain why being held against a wall by Matsumoto would give him an erection.  
  
He was just willing himself the strength to push Matsumoto away, but then Matsumoto _smirked_ at him.  
  
“Really?” he said.  
  
Sho snapped. The arm that had felt so impossibly constricting against his chest was nothing when he shoved past Matsumoto, frustration helping him to find his escape. A hand grabbed at his arm but Sho shrugged it off.  
  
“Hey!” he heard Matsumoto call from behind him as he strode away. “We haven’t finished here!.”  
  
Sho didn’t look back. He told himself he was grateful when Matsumoto didn’t try to follow him into the bedroom.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
The one good thing about Matsumoto’s strict schedule was that it meant Sho didn’t have to worry about facing him the next morning. He was only a shadowy lump under the covers of the bed next to Sho’s when Sho woke up. The clock on the table in between them read 7:18, which meant Sho would be afforded a good five hours of peace to himself.  
  
Almost to himself. Aiba was still a constant, hovering presence as Sho set about his morning routine. He frowned slightly at Sho’s tense response to his greeting but made no further comment. Not until Sho was seated at the dining table across from him with a cup of coffee in hand.  
  
“Sleep well?”  
  
Sho held his gaze and shrugged. “Same as always.”  
  
One side of Aiba’s mouth stretched upward into a lopsided grin. “You sure?”  
  
There was a t00-knowing glint in his eyes. Sho froze.  
  
“I don’t know what you mean.”  
  
Aiba didn’t falter. “Sure you do. You know, if you need some extra bathroom time, we’re not going to judge… it’s not like you’re a prisoner here. You should feel free to be comfortable!”  
  
Sho groaned and slumped forward against the table. “Do the two of you really have to discuss _everything_?”  
  
“All part of our duty! Gotta make sure you’re safe and sound.”  
  
He’d had enough. Moving abruptly, he pushed back his chair, letting it scrape noisily across the floor before standing up.  
  
“I’m going to go do some work. In the other room. I’m going to work and be left alone for a bit and we’re not going to talk about this anymore.”  
  
He grabbed his cup of coffee and moved away from the the table.  
  
“Sho!”  
  
Hearing Aiba calling his name almost made him stop, but he could feel his face burning and Sho wasn’t in the mood for any further humiliation. He grabbed his laptop bag from the desk and headed for the solitude of the empty master bedroom, closing the door behind him.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
The master bedroom became his refuge for the rest of the day. Aiba interrupted him only for meals, with a gentle smile on his face and no more of the teasing from that morning. He seemed insistent on trying to have their interactions return to normal, but Sho still felt too humiliated to comply so easily.  
  
Dinner was an awkward affair. Every time Sho spared a glance across the table, he found Aiba either sending more encouraging smiles his way, or looking at Matsumoto with _meaning_ , as though attempting to initiate one of their silent conversations.  
  
Matsumoto ignored Aiba. He ignored everything except for his meal, seemingly unaffected by the odd atmosphere. Whether it was an act or not, Sho couldn’t tell, but he was envious nonetheless. His own countenance was nowhere near as composed, he was sure.  
  
Though Matsumoto kept mostly silent throughout dinner, Sho could hear him speaking with Aiba after he returned to his work. Muffled sounds filtered through the closed door, too indistinct for Sho to decipher. Curiosity made him want to tiptoe across the room and lean close to the door to learn of the contents of their discussion, but he suppressed the urge. The peace afforded to him all day had allowed him to be incredibly productive and he wanted to continue without distraction. Feeling satisfied with his work always helped to reduce his stress.  
  
About an hour or so after dinner, he was interrupted by a knock. Aiba actually waited for Sho to invite him inside before entering the room, looking a bit more hesitant than Sho had come to expect from him.  
  
“Hey,” Aiba said. “Still working?”  
  
Sho lowered the lid of his laptop and turned around on his chair to face him. “Trying to.”  
  
Truthfully, there wasn’t a lot he could do without access to his email or knowledge of when they would leave the safe house. Everything he had managed to accomplish might all end up being for naught by the time he returned to work, but he tried not to dwell on that possibility. Sho preferred optimism.  
  
“I’m sorry, um, about this morning. I went a bit overboard, didn’t I? Jun always tells me that.”  
  
Sho shrugged. “No, you were fine. It’s just…” He sighed, rubbing the side of his face with his hand. “It’s embarrassing.”  
  
“You don’t have to be embarrassed around me! Promise!” Aiba smiled, tilting his head. “We’re friends, aren’t we?””  
  
“Friends?”  
  
“Yeah. I like you, Sho. Maybe you don’t like me, but—”  
  
“No,” Sho said. “I like you too.” He furrowed his brow, realising how much he meant it. Becoming friends with someone assigned to protect him should have been a strange concept, but Aiba made it easy.  
  
“Friends,” he said, smiling back at Aiba.  
  
The smile on Aiba’s face shone even brighter, and before Sho could comprehend what was happening, he crossed the space between them and grabbed Sho’s arms, pulling him up into a sudden, crushing hug.  
  
“Good,” Aiba said against Sho’s neck.  
  
Aiba was warm to touch. The scent of shampoo on his hair clouded Sho’s nostrils as he pressed closer, squeezing Sho’s torso with strong, bony arms. It was nice. A little surprising, but Sho found himself relaxing into the embrace instantly, arms moving around Aiba’s back to return the hold.  
  
After a few seconds, Aiba pulled away, and Sho could feel himself smiling. There was no hint of awkwardness when their eyes met; just the calm flush of warmth that came from mutual comfort.  
  
Sho dropped his arms and went to step back, but Aiba’s hand moving to grip his shoulder stopped him.  
  
“So, ah… there was something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Aiba said. “Jun’s not super happy with the thought of you spending so much time in here where we can’t keep an eye on you. I told him we should let you have some space and stuff, but he’s right. Anything could happen to you in here. What if someone broke in through the window and we couldn’t get to you in time?”  
  
“I don’t think that’s likely.”  
  
“Sho. Please?”  
  
It was hard to argue with Aiba when he was so close to Sho, letting him experience the power of his wide brown eyes and their pleading insistence in full. He knew Aiba didn’t even have to ask nicely, but he appreciated him allowing Sho the illusion of choice.  
  
“Fine,” said Sho. “Let me just get my stuff and I’ll go.”  
  
Aiba squeezed his shoulder and released him. The feeling of his fingertips lingered on Sho’s skin.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Matsumoto barely acknowledged his presence after Sho returned to the living room. Aiba went to bed after their talk and Sho didn’t feel like continuing trying to work, so he settled on the couch and turned on the television. Part of his daily routine since arriving at the safe house was to watch whichever news programs happened to be airing. Even if he was mostly cut off from the rest of the world, he didn’t want to miss anything important.  
  
Especially not if there was any insight to be gleaned with regards to his own situation. He didn’t entirely trust Aiba and Matsumoto to keep him informed of matters which affected him.  
  
He was considering whether to sit through the variety show that had just started airing or retire to bed when a presence suddenly blocked his view. A very ominous presence in the shape of Matsumoto Jun, standing in front of Sho with his arms crossed and an inscrutable look on his face.  
  
“Something the matter?” asked Sho.  
  
Matsumoto jerked his head toward the back door. “Let’s go outside for a bit.”  
  
Confused, Sho stayed where he was. “Outside?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Apparently, Matsumoto wasn’t in the mood for discussion. He turned away, walking for the door without looking back. After a moment of hesitation, Sho followed him.  
  
Outside felt as still and quiet as it had the previous night when Sho snuck out. It made him wonder what kind of neighbourhood they were in. Were they surrounded by families already sleeping happily in their beds, unaware of the dangers their new neighbours posed to their peaceful lives? Or were the houses empty? Did this place only exist for the sake of protection?  
  
But who would have the kind of power to orchestrate something of that scale? And, more importantly, why would they take an interest in Sho?  
  
Those questions still seemed to be ones he was not going to get an answer to anytime soon.  
  
Matsumoto leaned against the wall and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He took one cigarette from the packet before tossing it over to Sho, giving him no warning. Sho almost failed to catch it.  
  
Looking at the packet, he could see it was the same brand he smoked—no, it wasn’t the same brand; they were his cigarettes. He’d forgotten about them in his panic.  
  
“You dropped them,” said Matsumoto. “Last night.”  
  
The reminder of the previous night caused a wave of discomfort to flare hot in Sho’s stomach. He tried to suppress it.  
  
“I didn’t know you smoked.”  
  
“I don’t.” Matsumoto shrugged. “I used to. But I quit because of Aiba.”  
  
He didn’t offer any further explanation.  
  
Sho watched as Matsumoto lifted the cigarette he was holding to perch between his lips, fingers flicking the lighter twice before getting a steady flame. His cheeks hollowed with his first, quick suck. Even in the dark, Sho could see the sharp lines of his cheekbones and the full pout of his mouth as he exhaled, sending a puff of smoke past his lips to join to curls wisping around his face.  
  
This time, when Matsumoto threw Sho the lighter, he was ready for it.  
  
He gripped the lighter in his hand, unsure of how to proceed. He wanted to tell Matsumoto that he didn’t really smoke either, but he decided better of it. After all, Matsumoto had been angry enough at him for sneaking away for a smoke. He didn’t want to know his reaction if he revealed the truth.  
  
Sighing, he tipped a cigarette out of the packet and brought it to his mouth. Perhaps the act of sharing a smoke break would help dampen some of the awkwardness between them. A sense of camaraderie birthed from a mutual bad habit.  
  
Glancing at Matsumoto, silently smoking with seemingly no concern for Sho, he doubted it.  
  
“So…” drawled Matsumoto, breaking the silence. He ashed his cigarette onto the grass and glanced briefly at Sho.  
  
“Men, huh?”  
  
Sho choked, spluttering as acrid smoke burned his throat. “I’m not… I wasn’t…”  
  
“You don’t need to hide it,” said Matsumoto. “It’s fine. I already suspected, anyway.”  
  
Sho was glad it was dark enough outside to hide his burning cheeks. “You… suspected?”  
  
Matsumoto snorted. “It is part of my job to be observant. You’re not really as good at hiding things as you might think.” He shrugged, lifting his cigarette to his lips. “You don’t have to worry about it. Really. Doesn’t bother me one way or the other.”  
  
_I know_ , Sho almost said, but stopped himself. He didn’t think he should reveal that he overheard the conversation between Matsumoto and Aiba during their trip.  
  
_Aiba_.  
  
“Does Aiba…”  
  
“Care? Or know? He definitely wouldn’t care. But whether he knows…” Matsumoto sighed and looked over at Sho, a wry smile on his lips. “I don’t think so. He can be plenty observant, but not always when it comes to the way people see him.”  
  
The implication behind Matsumoto’s words struck him. He froze, blood draining from his face.  
  
“I don’t—”  
  
Matsumoto waved a hand dismissively. “Whatever. I’m not here to scold you for having a crush. I get it—spending all this time together with Aiba being… _Aiba_. You’re not the first.”  
  
There was maybe a hint of bitterness in his voice and Sho’s mind raced, trying to recall the exact details of the conversation in the car. There were so many questions he wanted to ask; so much he wished to know and yet couldn’t.  
  
“I’m only bringing it up to make sure you know that nothing can happen. No matter how friendly he is, he’s still here to protect you. He’ll always put that first.”  
  
Sho swallowed and forced a nod. “I know.”  
  
It was strange. Matsumoto said one thing, but to Sho’s ears it sounded a lot more as though he really said, _“Nothing can happen because Aiba belongs to me.”_  
  
He watched Matsumoto, no longer looking his way. There were no clues to be found in the poor lighting; the shadows on his face masked his expression.  
  
Matsumoto dropped the cigarette in his fingers to the ground, crushing it with his boot. “Come on,” he said, turning Sho’s way. “Let’s head back inside.”  
  
Before he opened the door, Matsumoto raised a hand to pat Sho’s shoulder for just a second; the opposite shoulder to the one Aiba squeezed earlier. Sho had a matching set of prints now.  
  
Funny, Sho thought. For all that Matsumoto called Aiba out for not always noticing certain things, it seemed that he was just as oblivious.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Hearing Aiba refer to Matsumoto as ‘Jun’ enough times caused Sho to eventually also start calling him Jun. In his head. It was easier: one syllable instead of four, and Aiba’s voice had a way of sticking in his head. It was also, perhaps, a sign of _something_ that he thought of Jun enough for the change to happen.  
  
He slipped near the end of the first week.  
  
“Hey, Jun, do you know if we have more toilet paper or are we almost out?” Sho asked upon emerging from the bathroom late one night, too distracted as he towelled his hair dry to think about what he was saying.  
  
He stopped short in his tracks as soon as he realised his mistake. Jun— _Matsumoto_ —was staring at him from where he sat at the dining table, a faint look of surprise on his face.  
  
“I mean, uh—”  
  
“If there’s no more in the cupboard, then we’re out. I’ll go get more supplies as soon as I wake up tomorrow.”  
  
Sho nodded blankly, averting his gaze. The couch seemed too far away, and then, not far enough once he was seated. He was too keenly aware of the eyes still watching him.  
  
He was torn between his desire to act cool, as if nothing unusual had happened, and the need to respond to the pressure overwhelming him, causing his neck to feel unnaturally tense. He was being ridiculous. It was just a name. Names were meant to be used. It was—  
  
“You know, you can call me Jun if you want.”  
  
Sho looked up.  
  
“Oh. I, uh—”  
  
“I don’t mind.”  
  
With that, Matsumoto— _Jun?_ —returned his attention to his book, putting an end to the matter, but Sho continued to stare. From a casual observance, there was nothing amiss: his face appeared calm, eyes not straying from the pages in front of him. But the longer Sho looked, the more he could see the slight line of tension in his shoulders. And as long as Sho looked, he remained perfectly still, not moving to turn a page even after too much time passed for him to simply be a slow reader.  
  
“Jun.”  
  
An obvious twitch flashed across Jun’s face, brow creasing before he managed to smooth the reaction away. He tipped his book halfway and glanced across the room, expression set in a careful mask.  
  
“What?”  
  
Sho smiled. “Nothing.”  
  
The twitch returned, more pronounced. “I can change my mind, you realise?”  
  
“Nope, you already said it was fine. Sorry, but I can’t allow such contradictory statements.”  
  
Jun rolled his eyes. “I only said it was fine so you wouldn’t get all weird about it. If you’re going to be weird and annoying anyway, then it’s not worth it.”  
  
Sho laughed. “Okay, okay.” He left the smile on his face and nodded at Jun. “You know, you should really consider becoming an attorney if this whole SP thing doesn’t work out. You’ve definitely got the stubbornness for it.”  
  
“Fat chance,” Jun retorted under his breath as he returned to his book, but there was a hint of a smile on lips that didn’t go away for as long as Sho looked.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
The problem, Sho knew, was that Aiba was sharp. And a bit of a gossip at times. After only two weeks of being with Sho, he seemed to know more about the office goings on than Sho himself. If Sho were to mention it, he was certain Aiba would say something about how collecting intel was just a part of his job, but Sho didn’t think Aiba really needed to know that Moriyama on the second floor was embarrassed about drunkenly making a pass at one of her coworkers, or that Kondo was planning to quit his job in the spring. Sho didn’t even need to know those things.  
  
It was hardly surprising, then, that Aiba noticed when Sho addressed Jun more casually over dinner. Or that he chose to comment, eyes becoming bright as he looked at Sho.  
  
“When did this happen?”  
  
“What?” Sho replied blandly.  
  
“You… being all friendly, calling each other by your first names now.”  
  
“I think you’ll find I haven’t been calling anyone by their first name,” said Jun as he served himself more salad from the communal bowl.  
  
“Wait,” said Sho. “You can call me Sho if you want.”  
  
Aiba flapped a hand in front of his face. “Jun doesn’t use first names while he’s working. Thinks it’s not professional. He won’t even let me call him Matsujun anymore!”  
  
“Matsujun?”  
  
“It was his nickname when we were training. Everyone called him Matsujun.”  
  
“You mean, you started calling me that during the first week and kept going until it stuck.” Jun looked over at Sho. “I actually told him he should call me Matsumoto while we’re working together but he doesn’t listen.”  
  
“Matsumoto always makes me think of my fifth grade teacher. She smelled funny.”  
  
“Glad to know I’m less memorable than some teacher you had twenty years ago.”  
  
“You know it’s not like that! Anyway, Matsujun is a great nickname. You should feel lucky! I never had any cool nicknames during training.”  
  
“That’s because you were the only one giving people nicknames. You should have made one up for yourself if you wanted one so bad.”  
  
“I tried but they never caught on! I was always just Aiba.”  
  
His pout was so forlorn that it was hard not to laugh. Sho swallowed his smile and looked at Aiba seriously.  
  
“Should I call you Masaki instead?” Sho asked. He paused. “Masaki,” he repeated, drawing the sounds out as he spoke so he could feel the shape of the vowels in his mouth.  
  
He looked up, expecting to be met with a smile, but Aiba’s face was blank. Almost… dazed.  
  
Aiba blinked and the moment disappeared, mouth relaxing open to let a short laugh pass through.  
  
“No, I wanted a cool nickname. I could never think of one good enough.”  
  
“Hmm, if we were to copy the Matsujun style… Aibaki?” Sho suggested. “Or Aibama. Sorta like Obama.”  
  
Aiba giggled. “Does that make you Sakusho?”  
  
Jun sighed, rolling his eyes, but the attempt at disdain would have been more effective if he wasn’t smiling. “You’re both morons.”  
  
“Oh, I think we’re annoying Matsujun.”  
  
“Hmm, Matsujun can be very easily annoyed!”  
  
“Does that mean we should stop calling him Matsujun? How about Matsumo?”  
  
“Or Motojun!”  
  
“MJ? That sounds pretty cool.”  
  
Sho was struggling to keep a straight face and Aiba was no better. They were both far too amused with each other to pay any attention to Jun’s darkening expression.  
  
“You both realise that I am highly trained in several forms of martial arts and I’m going to use all of them to kick your asses.”  
  
Sho and Aiba looked at Jun and then back at each other before bursting into laughter.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho woke with a start.  
  
Heart racing, he opened his eyes to overwhelming darkness, and tried to make sense of what was happening. What was that noise? Sobbing? Someone was hurt? He needed to move; he needed to turn on a light. Where was the light switch? What the fuck should he do?  
  
The door opened and there was the light Sho wanted, too bright when he was unprepared. His eyes closed instinctively, and the seconds it took for his vision to clear stretched too long.  
  
When he did manage to focus, he was not met with the sight of an intruder coming to attack him. There was no sign of a threat; no noise besides the same wrenching sobs that jolted him awake. There was only Jun, crouching in the space between the beds, back to Sho as he bent over Aiba.  
  
Aiba was the source of the sobbing noises, Sho realised.  
  
Stunned, he was only able to watch as Aiba continued crying. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. Did something happen? Was Aiba hurt?  
  
His questions remained stuck in his throat. Jun gently pulled Aiba into his arms, soothing his panicked gasps with whispered reassurances as he rubbed Aiba’s shoulders. He moved a hand to cup the side of Aiba’s face, keeping it steady, and his thumb stroked slowly over the line of a cheekbone. Though Sho couldn’t see clearly in the oddly lit room, he knew Jun was wiping away the tears that were gathered there.  
  
Terrifying as it was, the scene was also strangely intimate. Aiba gradually relaxed into Jun’s comforting touch, no longer exhibiting the same panic as before. His noises became muffled and his breathing slower, less desperate. Jun was his anchor. The longer they clung to each other, the more Aiba’s pain was blanketed by a warm sense of security that emanated across the room.  
  
Once Aiba’s shaking had mostly subsided, Jun brushed the damp hair off his forehead and brought him even closer, running his hand down the side of Aiba’s face before dropping a soft kiss to his brow.  
  
Sho suddenly felt as though he was intruding. He tried to make a sound, but his throat was too dry and he couldn’t find the right words to say. All that came out was a short rasp.  
  
Jun twisted his body to look over his shoulder at Sho. Apprehension flashed through his eyes for a second before he tried to swallow it down, gaze moving between Aiba and Sho. His uncertainty didn’t quite leave his face.  
  
“Is…” Sho started to say, cracked voice sounding too loud even though he was whispering. He licked his lips and tried again. “Can I—”  
  
Jun shook his head. He turned back to Aiba and coaxed him up, strong arms lifting him to his feet. “Come on… let’s move to the other room,” Sho heard him murmur and Aiba nodded, eyes flickering to meet Sho’s for a split second before turning away.  
  
“Go back to sleep,” Jun said to Sho as he led Aiba out of the room.  
  
It was a laughable request. There was no way Sho could fall asleep now and pretend that nothing happened.  
  
He gave them half a minute’s head start before tossing back the covers and climbing out of bed. The door was still ajar, but Sho couldn’t see anything past it as he padded across the room with careful steps. He paused when he reached the door, listening for any noises coming from the other side. He heard nothing.  
  
When he entered the living room, there was no sign of Aiba or Jun. He stopped to consider his next move. Maybe they were in the bathroom? Or outside? He couldn’t decide if he should go searching for them or wait where he was. Surely Jun wouldn’t want to leave Sho alone for too long. Not when he was always so obsessed with upholding his duty to protect Sho.  
  
Then again, nothing about what had occurred since Sho woke up was remotely normal.  
  
As if wanting to prove Sho’s worries unfounded, Jun emerged from the doorway leading to the master bedroom. He stilled at the sight of Sho, and slowly shut the door behind him.  
  
“I told you to go back to sleep,” he said as soon as he’d moved close enough to Sho for his hushed voice to carry.  
  
“Jun. What’s going on?”  
  
Jun shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. “It’s not your—”  
  
“I swear, Matsumoto, if you tell me it’s not my concern, I will hit you and then leave here, supposed threats to my life be damned.”  
  
Jun’s expression turned cold and Sho sighed.  
  
“Okay, maybe I won’t. But you can’t expect to just keep shutting me out. It’s not fair.” Sho moved a step closer, eyes pleading as he looked at Jun. “At least tell me whether Aiba’s okay.”  
  
Jun just stared at him, still stubbornly resistant.  
  
After a moment spent waging some sort of internal battle with himself, he relented.  
  
“He’s not hurt. It’s just… nightmares.”  
  
“Nightmares?”  
  
“From another job—our last serious one before we started working with you.” Jun looked away. “It was bad.”  
  
“Something happened while you were protecting someone?”  
  
Jun still wouldn’t look at him. “Not exactly.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
He was ignored. Jun rubbed his face and sighed, head dropping. “Look, I promise I will talk about all of this properly with you tomorrow. Just… not now, okay? I don’t want to leave Aiba alone for too long.”  
  
Sho was reminded of the attempted shooting, when Aiba had been eager to make his way to Jun’s side. The worry in his eyes then was the same as the look in Jun’s eyes now.  
  
Though Sho was desperate for answers, he could understand Jun’s need to prioritise Aiba. Sho was worried about him as well. Maybe not with the same intensity, but enough.  
  
“Okay,” Sho said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”  
  
Jun nodded and turned around, heading for the kitchen.  
  
Sho followed him.  
  
Jun stopped after a few steps. He looked at Sho with a hint of frustration, and Sho expected a new argument to commence. He was already prepared to throw back in Jun’s face all of his oft-repeated assertions that Sho couldn’t be left unguarded if he tried to send Sho back to the other bedroom again. After all, turnabout was fair play.  
  
To his surprise, Jun said nothing and started moving again. He ignored Sho’s hovering presence as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and continued ignoring him on the trip back to the master bedroom.  
  
He left the door open when he went inside and Sho thought he could at least consider that acceptance, if not an invitation.  
  
The lights were off in the bedroom. Sho could make out the shadowy lump of Aiba on the bed, curled up on his side above the covers. The still and silent figure he cut was a stark contrast to what Sho witnessed only ten minutes earlier.  
  
Jun went straight for the bed, settling into place next to Aiba. As he stroked his hair, Aiba shifted and moved, rolling over to curl against Jun’s side. Jun encouraged him to sit up so he could drink some of the water Jun brought for him.  
  
Sho had become an intruder once more. Even so, he had no plans to leave. He moved the chair out from under the desk and sat down, taking some time to settle his thoughts in the quiet room.  
  
There was definitely something about Aiba and Jun that had unsettled him since the first time they met. He knew he trusted them, just as he trusted that Nino would always ultimately have his best interests at heart. But he also knew they’d been hiding too much and Sho didn’t enjoy being kept in the dark.  
  
Trying to catalogue every strange behaviour he’d noticed over the past few months proved fruitless. His mind kept looping back to images of Aiba’s smiling face, so genuine and carefree, and to memories of Jun taking every precaution to ensure Sho’s protection, even when they seemed unneeded. He thought of easy conversations and subtle touches and the warmth that he felt so often in his chest.  
  
His eyelids were too heavy. In the dark, it was easier to let them fall shut. In the quiet, it was easy to sink back against his chair and let the soft sounds of steady breathing take over his concentration.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Strong hands were wrapped around his arms, pulling him up. Sho found his feet with unsteady movements, swaying ungracefully into the body holding his weight. He tried to sit down again, but the hands clutching him wouldn’t let him go.  
  
After the first few stumbled steps, he opened his eyes. There was nothing for him to see; the room was pitch black.  
  
_Ah_. He must have fallen asleep. Which meant the room he was in was still the master bedroom and the person guiding his movements was Jun.  
  
He felt nice. The strength of his arms holding Sho upright and the solid press of his body bumping against Sho’s side provided a certain sense of security Sho wanted to lean into. If only they weren’t moving, he could take a moment to try. He could shift his position to feel the hard lines of Jun’s muscles tightening around him, smell the fragrance of Jun’s cologne growing sharper as he brought his face closer to Jun’s skin.  
  
Sho’s knees hit the edge of the bed and he let himself collapse onto the mattress. An obstacle was in his way—Aiba’s sleeping figure, he realised. Sho did his best not to wake him as he shifted into a comfortable position. The space between Aiba’s back and the edge of the bed was just big enough for one.  
  
He meant to roll back over to look at Jun once he’d successfully managed to pull the covers over his body, but sleep took hold of him before he had the chance.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Aiba was gone when Sho woke up. Sho opened his eyes to the sight of Jun’s back instead, further away from him than Aiba had been. Sho looked at him for a little while before deciding to get out of bed.  
  
There was nothing particularly different about that morning when he made his way into the living room. Aiba was sitting at the dining table where he usually was when Sho wandered over to the kitchen, an empty bowl in front of him. It seemed even the strange disturbance of the previous night wasn’t cause to disrupt the regular routine.  
  
Aiba’s greeting was markedly less cheerful, however. There was an obvious redness around his eyes and no spark to his voice. Sho could feel an uncomfortable tension emanating between them as he set about preparing his morning coffee.  
  
The tension only became thicker when Sho sat down at the table. Just by looking at Aiba, it was obvious how wary he was; preparing to face difficult questions he did not wish to answer.  
  
Sho had questions, certainly, but seeing Aiba’s exhausted face and strained smile made him not want to subject him to an early morning interrogation. Sho drank his coffee in silence, allowing Aiba to escape to wash his dishes without a word.  
  
Once he’d finished his coffee, he looked over at Aiba, who was still slowly rinsing cups in the sink with his head down.  
  
“Hey,” Sho said.  
  
Aiba stiffened.  
  
“Do you want to watch some TV?”  
  
The suggestion made Aiba visibly relax, lifting his gaze to meet Sho’s eyes.  
  
He shot Sho a grateful smile and nodded. “Okay.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
They stayed on the sofa watching daytime shows for hours. It was nice to feel Aiba relaxing beside him as the time passed, returning to the way he normally was. It was especially nice to hear Aiba’s occasional laughter in response to the silly things happening on screen. It made Sho feel as though everything was okay.  
  
Jun joined them a bit before noon. A look at the time told Sho that he woke up earlier than usual, despite the fact he was sure Jun would have fallen asleep late. He didn’t make a comment. No one spoke as Jun walked through the living room, only exchanging short glances and strange smiles.  
  
After getting himself a cup of coffee from the kitchen, Jun moved to the sofa and perched himself on the arm next to Aiba. From his periphery, Sho could see Aiba and Jun exchange a meaningful look. Jun’s hand dropped down to squeeze Aiba’s arm and Aiba returned his unspoken questions with a nod.  
  
Without Jun needing to say anything, Aiba switched off the TV. They were all quietly still for a few seconds, and then Aiba shifted so he was sitting up properly, angling slightly toward Sho.  
  
“So,” Aiba said. “I guess we should talk, huh? About last night.”  
  
A ghost of a laugh pushed past his lips. It caused discomfiting little flips in Sho’s stomach to see Aiba so nervous.  
  
“I’m sorry for freaking out on you. And I understand if you don’t feel safe having me protect you anymore… we can contact headquarters and have someone else assigned to you until this is over.”  
  
Sho frowned. “That’s not it. I don’t want you to leave.” He tilted his head, allowing his expression to soften. “If I have to remain stuck here for longer, then I want to be stuck here with you. I’d feel safer with you and Jun protecting me than anyone else.”  
  
Aiba raised his head to meet Sho’s eyes and smiled.  
  
“I was just worried,” continued Sho. “And I want to know that you’re okay—not because I’m concerned about whether you can do your job, but because you’re my friend. We are friends, right?”  
  
“Of course we are,” Aiba said.  
  
“Then talk to me. Please. I don’t like being left in the dark.”  
  
Aiba nodded slowly and glanced over at Jun. They had another one of those silent conversations: a raised eyebrow, an imploring look, a slight tilt of a head. Aiba scratched the side of his face and sighed, shoulders dropping.  
  
“Okay,” he said. “You’ve heard of New Peace, right?”  
  
It took Sho a couple of seconds to make a connection, not having expected the conversation to head in such a direction.  
  
“You mean the cult?”  
  
“Yeah.” Aiba’s lips pressed together in a tight grimace. “I can tell you from experience that they’re not very peaceful.”  
  
“You… were a member?”  
  
“No,” said Jun. “We were investigating. An undercover operation.” He shifted slightly where he sat, eyes flickering to Aiba for a second before he continued. “Obviously we can’t go into details, but it didn’t go quite as planned. They’re a lot more dangerous than the general public realises.”  
  
“But you… you’re SPs. Why were you investigating them?” Sho paused, frowning as realisation dawned on him. “You’re not SPs, are you?”  
  
“Technically, no.” More hesitation punctuated Jun’s words, drawing out his response. It was a rather pointless action when they all knew that there was no turning back now. Any further attempts at dodging questions were just a delaying tactic.  
  
“We work for the National Intelligence Agency.”  
  
Sho had thought he was prepared for what Jun would say, but it was still a shock to hear. The National Intelligence Agency. The organisation responsible for national security. And if Aiba and Jun worked there, then considering their other behaviour, Sho could assume one thing.  
  
They were spies.  
  
The revelation should have made all of the missing puzzle pieces fall into place, but Sho was just more confused than ever.  
  
“Why?” he said. “You’re secret agents? Then why are you pretending to be SPs? Why are you here, protecting me, instead of continuing your investigation into New Peace?”  
  
Aiba and Jun looked at each other again. Jun was terse, mouth drawn in a tight line and eyes flashing a warning at Aiba. Aiba just sighed.  
  
“Come on, Jun,” he said. “We should tell Sho the truth. He deserves to know.”  
  
After a few more seconds of silence, Jun’s expression dropped into one of resignation and he shrugged. “Fine,” he said, though he was still frowning. “Tell him.”  
  
Aiba turned back to face Sho once more. Sho wasn’t comforted by the nervous smile Aiba sent his way.  
  
“We were still investigating,” Aiba explained. “After the mess of last year, we both took time off to recuperate. But then we received new intel suggesting that New Peace was gaining some influence over government and law enforcement agencies. At the very least, what we learned made us suspect that someone in the prosecutor’s office was leaking information in exchange for bribes.”  
  
Aiba paused, as though to check whether Sho was following. Sho nodded slightly and Aiba continued.  
  
“Posing as SPs was the perfect cover. With all of the tensions mounting in response to your father’s anti-gang stance, it was reasonable for you to need extra protection.”  
  
“And protecting me theoretically gave you access to both the prosecutor’s office and the government, via my father,” said Sho, filling in the blanks. “Except that I have nothing to do with his work, apart from the cases I prosecute. I’ve always been particular about keeping our lives separate as much as possible.”  
  
“We know that now.”  
  
Sho frowned. “But then... what about the assassination attempt?”  
  
“That was never supposed to happen,” said Jun. “It’s why we had to move you to a safe house. Until we know for certain why someone tried to target you, we need to take every extra precaution.”  
  
Sho could laugh, if it wasn’t so horribly unfunny. The two people he had to thank for saving his life were never supposed to be protecting him in the first place. And now he was stuck, away from the life he should be living, all because someone managed to take an action that took the fucking National Intelligence Agency off guard.  
  
It was a cruel joke.  
  
“Do you have any theories?” Sho asked after a long silence. If he was going to be made to accept this as his reality, he wanted to be informed of every detail.  
  
Jun sighed. “Some. It might have been meant as a diversion. An attempt to cause chaos and throw attention onto the gang threats. Or they could have had another motive entirely. Whether they thought you knew something about the leak, or it was something to do with one of your cases… we still don’t know. I’m sorry.”  
  
Sho rubbed his face, feeling frustrated. “You know, if you just told me the truth earlier, I could have tried to help. If I have some kind of connection to these New Peace people, then I’m sure I would have been able to find it. I can’t do anything here.”  
  
Silence fell after his outburst. Sho didn’t know if it was fair for him to claim he could have assisted Aiba and Jun in any way, especially since he hadn’t had access to all of his case files since they’d left the city, but it made him feel better to release his frustration.  
  
A touch pricked at his hand and he looked down to see Aiba’s fingers sliding over his.  
  
“Are you okay?” Aiba asked.  
  
Sho considered his answer. “I’m not going to lie,” he said, “I’m pretty annoyed.” He glanced over at Aiba’s face, seeing the sadness there, and he sighed. “I’m not mad at you. Just… this whole situation. I’ll need some time to come to terms with everything.”  
  
He pulled his hand away from Aiba’s grasp and rose from the couch, intent on heading for the kitchen.  
  
“Where are you going?” asked Jun. There was no edge of a demand to his tone, merely curiosity.  
  
It was a good thing there wasn’t or Sho might have snapped.  
  
“I need a drink,” Sho responded.  
  
For all of his rules, Jun hadn’t seen any problem with keeping a few beers in the fridge—provided Sho never drank more than one over dinner. Sho appreciated Jun for that, at least.  
  
He also suspected one beer wasn’t going to cut it in his current mood.  
  
“Don’t drink too much,” warned Jun. “Nothing’s changed about our situation. It won’t be good if you get drunk.”  
  
Sho made a face, though he knew Jun wouldn’t be able to see it. “I won’t,” he called back, yanking the refrigerator door open with a little too much force.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho wasn’t drunk, but he definitely wasn’t sober.  
  
One beer easily turned into a few more, and Jun’s irritating warning in the back of his mind only helped to spur him on. It probably wasn’t the most mature action to take, but Sho thought he could be allowed a bit of leeway considering the circumstances.  
  
He realised just how not-sober he was when it came time for him to need a trip to the toilet, unable to ignore the demands of his bladder any longer, and moving from the sofa seemed too difficult to manage.  
  
He was so focused on staring at the floor, considering the best way rise without causing his head to spin, that he failed to notice someone approaching until a pair of legs suddenly appeared in his vision.  
  
“Sho,” he heard Jun’s voice say. “What are you doing? I’ve been calling your name for the past few minutes.”  
  
Sho slowly dragged his gaze up the legs, clad in soft sweats, and over a narrow waist, accentuated by an unfairly tight t-shirt, until he finally landed on Jun’s face. He appeared darkly amused behind his impatient expression, eyebrows arched and lips slightly curled.  
  
“Is it a requirement for people in your line of work to be really cool-looking?” Sho wondered.  
  
Jun’s eyebrows rose even higher.  
  
_Oh_. Sho definitely hadn’t meant to say that out loud.  
  
“You’re drunk,” Jun said.  
  
“Am not,” Sho replied stubbornly. “Just a bit relaxed.” He winced, remembering the exact predicament his ‘relaxed’ state had gotten him in. “Can you help me up?”  
  
More amused than impatient now, Jun bent down to grab Sho’s arms, hefting him up off the couch with an ease that spoke to his strength. Sho was still rather unsteady, so he couldn’t quite help falling into Jun as he tried to find his feet.  
  
He didn’t move away as soon as he should have.  
  
“You called me Sho,” he said, with belated realisation.  
  
“You weren’t responding to Sakurai.”  
  
Sho stared at Jun, still not moving. As close as he was, Sho could see how brown his eyes were; how much warmer they looked than he’d been remembering.  
  
A sudden wave of sensation in his bladder interrupted his thoughts, reminding him of why he needed to get up in the first place. He closed his eyes so he could make his sluggish brain focus. “Toilet,” he mumbled, extracting himself from Jun’s hold.  
  
Moving only became even more of a chore once he returned from the bathroom. Sho stopped outside of the door, finding comfort in leaning against the wall.  
  
“You should go to bed.”  
  
Sho cracked one eye open, squinting against the harsh light as he sought out Jun. He found him sitting at the dining table. Aiba was perched across from him in his pyjamas, drinking tea and glancing over his shoulder at Sho.  
  
Sho thought Aiba had already gone to bed. He dimly wondered whether Aiba had been in the living room the entire time; whether he’d witnessed Sho practically collapsing into Jun’s arms.  
  
“It’s about time for you to turn in as well, right?” Jun remarked to Aiba.  
  
Aiba nodded, setting his cup down and rising from his seat. “I’ll help Sho,” he said.  
  
“I can manage by myself,” Sho protested, nose scrunching. He pushed himself off the wall, wobbling only slightly, and marched across the room with heavy steps.  
  
“Sho, where are you—”  
  
Sho ignored him. The bedroom was dark, but he didn’t need lights to find the bed. He crashed onto the mattress, not caring that he was still dressed in his regular clothes, and drifted off to sleep.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
The first thing Sho registered was an unexpected weight pressing against his torso. Then, a different kind of pressure in his temples, signalling the headache that likely forced him awake.  
  
He shivered, feeling a chill prickle over his chest. Clearly he’d lost his shirt at some point—a victim of his unfortunate sleeping habit. His pants were still on, at least. They were the only thing keeping him warm. Sho hadn’t managed to make it under the covers.  
  
After a few minutes spent trying and failing to ignore the pounding in his head, Sho opened his eyes. He couldn’t really see anything in the dark, but he could hear the sound of muffled breathing coming from somewhere to his right. When he turned his head to find the source, his nose almost bumped into Aiba’s chin.  
  
Reaching down for the weight on his stomach confirmed it was an arm pressed there. Aiba’s arm. Aiba’s arm was resting on his stomach because he was holding Sho, as they slept, in the same bed.  
  
It took him a few seconds to understand what had happened. Apparently Sho, in his less-than-sober wisdom, had gone to the wrong room. Which meant that he was now sharing the queen bed with Aiba once again, only this time they were a lot closer than they had been the night before.  
  
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Sho was able to make out more of Aiba’s features. He could trace the curve of his nose down to the shape of his lips, slightly parted. If he angled his chin slightly, he could feel the warm breath spilling past them touch his own.  
  
He needed to move before he did something he would regret. Carefully, so not to wake Aiba, he shifted upright, lifting Aiba’s arm so he could escape his hold. Moving around the bed was a slow and laboured affair. It wouldn’t do to suddenly trip in his haste.  
  
The master bedroom had its own ensuite and Sho chose to find refuge there rather than brave outside. He didn’t think he could face Jun right then.  
  
What Sho really wanted was to take a shower. The effects of his drinking and sleeping in his clothes had left him feeling grimy; he longed for fresh underwear. His toothbrush, as well, would be sorely appreciated.  
  
There was a spare, clean towel in the ensuite, but that still left him with the problem of what to wear after he finished showering. He supposed he could change back into the clothes he had on or sleep naked. The first option seemed too unappealing, whereas the second… wasn’t exactly unappealing, but hardly seemed appropriate.  
  
Sleeping in the same bed as someone he found attractive was mildly awkward. Sleeping in the same bed as someone he found attractive whilst naked and potentially sporting a hard-on was a way to ruin a blossoming friendship.  
  
Seeing no other choice, he resigned himself to leaving the master bedroom. Dealing with Jun was worth getting the opportunity to feel clean again.  
  
Of course, for all his fretting, Jun was nowhere to be seen when Sho stepped out into the living room.  
  
Sho didn’t think too much of Jun’s absence until he reached the second bedroom and found it similarly empty. Mild panic began to creep up his spine. He was mostly confident that nothing was amiss—Jun was just in the bathroom, or maybe he stepped outside—but there was still the lingering question of _what if?_  
  
He bundled his change of clothes into his arms and headed back outside. With cautious movements, he padded softly toward the bathroom, senses on high alert for any distinguishing noises.  
  
Just as he was about to reach for the bathroom door, it clicked open. Sho pulled back and found himself face-to-face with Jun emerging from the other side, a little startled by Sho’s presence but otherwise unharmed.  
  
The relief Sho felt at seeing Jun quickly faded when he realised just how much of Jun he was seeing.  
  
Jun was naked.  
  
Well, not entirely naked, but the towel draped over his shoulders wasn’t doing much to hide anything. After a brief moment of surprise, Jun tugged it off to wrap around his waist with far more composure than Sho would have managed if their positions had been reversed.  
  
Sho wasn’t exactly holding much composure in his current position. Despite his best efforts, his eyes kept drifting down to the expanse of bare skin right before him: the droplets of water clinging to the ridges of sharp collarbones, the dark nipples set against a smooth, pale chest, the completely unfair way Jun’s torso tapered down in angled lines, leading Sho’s gaze directly to what a thin towel barely concealed.  
  
He didn’t need to stare to try to determine what was hidden by Jun’s towel. He caught enough of a glimpse when Jun first opened the door.  
  
“You’re awake,” said Jun.  
  
Sho swallowed. “Yeah. I, uh, wanted to take a shower.”  
  
“I’m sure you need one.” Jun stepped aside, leaving just enough space for Sho to squeeze past. “Go ahead.”  
  
Jun had to know exactly how much he was affecting Sho. He knew, and that’s why he was treating Sho with such cruelty. There had to be some kind of pleasure he got from witnessing Sho’s humiliation as he scuttled past, cheeks flushed and arms pressed tightly to his side in an attempt to avoid touching Jun.  
  
He wasn’t successful. Their shoulders brushed, bare skin making contact, and Sho shivered at the feeling of damp leaving a mark when he moved away.  
  
He didn’t turn around as he waited for Jun to leave, closing the door behind him.  
  
By the time Sho made it into the shower, he was painfully hard. Images of Jun’s pale skin and darkly amused looks, Aiba’s teasing smiles and graceful movements, were clouding his mind, only becoming more vivid with every minute that passed.  
  
He could have turned the water to freezing and tried to calm himself down but he didn’t want to; he was tired of restraint. The lingering buzz from his earlier drinking made him feel warm and loose as he lathered soap into his skin. It was easy to imagine his hands weren’t his own; that the slide of his fingers down his torso could be coming from someone else.  
  
As he braced himself against the wall, he felt Aiba’s arm against his stomach again; only this time, it was pressing tighter, pulling Sho back against lean muscles and warm skin. When he reached for his cock, it was Aiba’s fingers that wrapped around the shaft, working him over. What would his grip be like? Looser? Would he be fast or slow; passionate or teasing?  
  
Sho shifted and the freshly exposed skin on his side cooled with the loss of the shower’s pulsating heat. He imagined Jun placing a hand there: solid and unmoving save for the firm press of fingers into the soft flesh below his ribs. He imagined Jun’s lips drawing tantalisingly close to his ear, murmuring incentives in hoarse whispers as blunt fingernails scraped across his chest, only pausing to tweak a nipple.  
  
And then, only after Sho was falling apart completely, Jun’s hand reaching down to join Aiba’s on his cock.  
  
Thinking of the way they would overwhelm him, crowding him between their bodies, touches relentless as they brought him to climax, had Sho gasping. It was only a fantasy, but it felt so real. He stopped trying to match his strokes to some imagined idea of how they should be and let himself go, bucking into his fist with unbridled desperation.  
  
On the brink of orgasm, a thought sparked into his mind of what would happen if he stopped trying to hold back his voice. Of what would happen if he allowed himself to moan the names of the people responsible for his condition. Would Jun hear him from the other room. Would Sho be loud enough to wake Aiba from his sleep?  
  
Would they make their way into the unlocked bathroom and see Sho there, touching himself while calling for them, and would they—  
  
Sho’s stomach tightened and he came.  
  
He had just enough presence of mind to bite down on his lower lip so he didn’t cry out.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Facing someone immediately after using them as jerk-off material wasn’t the most comfortable of situations, but Sho thought he did a good job of keeping his composure. It helped that Jun barely spared Sho a glance as he walked past on his way to the kitchen. His attention was focused on the book he was reading: one of the paperback novels he’d brought with him.  
  
Sho wondered if reading was what Jun usually did to pass the time during those hours when he was the only one awake. He supposed he could stay up for a bit and find out for himself, but he was too exhausted not to sleep.  
  
After drinking a glass of water, Sho washed his cup in the sink and headed back to the bedroom. He paused when he was halfway there, glancing between the doors to the two bedrooms.  
  
“Going back to bed?” asked Jun, eyes not lifting from his novel.  
  
“Yeah.” Sho frowned. “Ah, I guess I should go back to the other room, shouldn’t I?”  
  
Jun looked up. “Do you mind sharing a bed with Aiba?”  
  
“No… I don’t mind,” Sho said, brow furrowing. “But there’s no reason for me to, right? I made a mistake before.”  
  
A pause followed his words. Jun’s eyes were on Sho’s face but he wasn’t really looking at Sho. He was stuck somewhere in a place of quiet deliberation.  
  
“Would you prefer it if I slept in the master bedroom with Aiba?”  
  
“It’s just… it’s easier for him to sleep when he’s not alone.”  
  
Jun tried to keep his expression carefully impassive but he didn’t quite succeed. Sho stared at him until their eyes met. Jun gave away his true feelings in an instant, mouth twitching with the knowledge that he’d been exposed.  
  
“The two of you really care about each other, don’t you?”  
  
Jun grunted and his eyes dropped. “We’re partners.”  
  
“And that’s all? You and Aiba are just two good friends who work with each other?”  
  
There was no response at first, but Sho was in the right mood to be patient.  
  
Eventually, Jun shrugged and said, “Don’t see why it matters to you.”  
  
As far as evasive tactics went, it was fairly poor. Sho smiled at him.  
  
“Why not? We’ve spent enough time together. I’m just curious, that’s all.”  
  
“And soon we’ll all go back to our regular lives and you won’t have to think about us anymore.”  
  
Sho held firm. “I don’t think I’ll be forgetting either of you too quickly.”  
  
He lingered there for a little while longer, keeping his gaze steady on Jun, before deciding Jun wasn’t about to be any more forthcoming about his feelings. Sho didn’t mind. He knew that coaxing a true confession from someone often took time.  
  
“I guess I’ll turn in,” he said, breaking the tension. “Night, Jun.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho woke up expecting to see Jun’s back in front of his face for the second morning in a row, but he didn’t. The bed was empty: no Jun, and no Aiba either.  
  
When he stumbled into the living room, feeling a little confused, he found them both there. Jun was standing by the table, phone pressed to his ear as he jotted something down on a piece of paper. Sprawled out on the floor nearby was Aiba, a travel bag between his legs and various items in haphazard piles around him.  
  
“Sho!” cried Aiba, jumping up to his feet as soon as he caught sight of him.  
  
Jun shot him a glare from the corner of his eye and Aiba smiled back guiltily.  
  
“I’m glad you’re awake,” Aiba said to Sho once he’d moved closer, voice hushed.  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“We’re leaving! The call came in an hour ago—I hope you don’t mind that we didn’t wake you straight away but I thought you could do with the extra sleep and we needed time to sort everything out anyway—”  
  
Sho raised a hand in the air, trying to halt Aiba’s rambling as he struggled to catch up. “Aiba, slow down. Explain. We’re leaving here?”  
  
Aiba nodded. “They found the leak. And they’re pretty sure he was the one responsible for the assassination attempt, so you’ve been cleared to return.”  
  
“They found the person responsible? Who?”  
  
“Kondo.”  
  
Sho blanched. He knew Kondo; they weren’t exactly friends, but they’d worked together. Sho had never noticed any bad feelings between them. He couldn’t even imagine why Kondo would have wished to see him harm.  
  
Logically, he’d known the person responsible for the drama of the previous months was likely to be someone he’d been acquainted with, but he was still struggling to process the idea. It was too shocking.  
  
“Why?” he asked.  
  
Aiba shook his head. “Sorry, we still don’t know much. Just that you’re safe now.” He smiled. “Isn’t that great?”  
  
Despite his shock, Sho couldn’t help but find a smile of his own when Aiba flung his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.  
  
He was safe. He could return to his normal life and put all of this mess behind him. He no longer had to while away his time in the confines of the safe house with only Aiba and Jun to keep him entertained.  
  
Aiba pulled away from him, a puzzled look on his face. “You okay?”  
  
Sho blinked. “Yeah,” he said, shaking away the weird tension in his body. “Of course. How long until we have to leave?”  
  
“I think we’ll go as soon as we’re ready. So the sooner you get packed, the sooner you can be home!”  
  
Sho smiled, though it felt strained. “I better get to it then.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
It was strange. Sho had spent almost two weeks wishing for his exile to come to an end and now, watching everything be loaded into the car, he was starting to feel reluctant to leave.  
  
He hadn’t really thought about how a return to his ordinary life would mean saying goodbye to Aiba and Jun—most likely for good. Two weeks ago, he doubted he would have cared much, but after spending so much time with them… after reaching a point where they were more than just his assigned protectors… he didn’t want to see them go.  
  
It was too sudden.  
  
“Jun, I’m driving,” Aiba said, moving to wrestle the car keys out of his hand. “You can sit in the back and Sho can be up front with me. You need to sleep.”  
  
“I’m fine,” replied Jun, though he let Aiba take the keys without too much resistance. “I can survive without sleep.”  
  
“I know you can _survive_ but there’s no need for you to. It’ll take hours for us to get back into the city and I can drive. I’m just as good a driver as you are!”  
  
Jun caught Sho’s eyes as Aiba moved away and shook his head. Sho stifled a laugh.  
  
Despite his protests, Jun ended up settling into the back seat. Aiba also tried to take his phone away, but Jun wouldn’t yield on that front. He kept it in his hand as he shifted into a comfortable position, arms loosely folded across his chest.  
  
“Happy to be going back?” Aiba asked after they’d been driving for a while. “Must feel nice to know this is all over. What do you think you’ll do first?”  
  
“First?” Sho thought for a few seconds and then a soft laugh escaped his lips. “Probably call the office and get someone to catch me up on what I’ve missed.”  
  
“Workaholic,” Aiba teased. “Though I guess we’re not any different.”  
  
“You have to go straight back to work?”  
  
“No time to rest. I’m surprised Jun isn’t busy calling up our superiors again to keep updated on every latest development.” Aiba smiled. “I’m glad, though. He needs a break… I doubt we’ll be getting much of one for the next couple of days.”  
  
Sho glanced at the side mirror, seeing Jun’s reflection in the glass. His head was pressed against the window, eyes closed and mouth relaxed in sleep.  
  
He turned back to Aiba. “Thank you,” he said. “For everything you’ve done for me. Even if it wasn’t originally for my sake… it must have been hard.”  
  
“Not hard,” said Aiba. “Not really. You made it a lot easier. Like I said before, we’re friends now, Sho. Friends help each other out.”  
  
Sho noticed Aiba made no mention of how he was just doing his job.  
  
_Friends_. He wondered how much that would still hold true once they separated.  
  
“Can I ask you something?” said Sho.  
  
“Go ahead.”  
  
Sho checked the mirror once more. Jun was either asleep, or he was doing a good job of pretending. It was risky to ask Aiba the question he had on his mind without knowing for sure.  
  
Though maybe, Sho thought, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Jun did overhear.  
  
“You and Jun…”  
  
Sho paused, considering the best choice of phrasing.  
  
In the end, being direct seemed the easiest approach.  
  
“Why are you not together?”  
  
Aiba frowned slightly.  
  
“I mean, wouldn’t it make sense? You’ve known each other for years, you work well together, you’re obviously attracted to each other—and I know you’re both aware that you are. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.”  
  
“I wasn’t planning to,” Aiba said quietly.  
  
“Then why? I don’t get it.”  
  
Aiba glanced at the rearview mirror and then he glanced at Sho. His hands changed position on the steering wheel, shoulders drawing slightly tense.  
  
“Don’t you think it would be a bad idea for us to be in a relationship when we work together?” he said, affecting a casual tone.  
  
Sho had already considered Aiba’s argument himself, so he had his response prepared.  
  
“Not really. I’ve seen the way you guys are together. And I don’t think that’s what’s stopping you either.”  
  
“Hmm.” A small smile appeared on Aiba’s face. “Maybe you’re right.”  
  
He tapped his fingers against the bottom of the steering wheel, a muffled rhythm on soft leather.  
  
“But I think also maybe… you’re looking at it the wrong way. We are together, you know? We’re always together, as partners and best friends and sometimes something more. I love Jun and he loves me.” Aiba glanced at the rearview mirror again, expression softening. “And I think we both know by now there’s always the option of more. If we want it. In the right situation.”  
  
He looked at Sho and Sho felt his cheeks warm at the spark in Aiba’s eyes. He pushed away the unhelpfully hopeful thoughts stirring at the back of his mind.  
  
“I still don’t think I really get it,” he said.  
  
“Ahh… is that so?” Aiba laughed. “Maybe I’m just talking nonsense.”  
  
Sho nodded, gaze drifting back to the side mirror. Jun’s eyes were still closed, face bearing the same undisturbed expression. Except there was possibly the hint of a crease between his eyebrows that hadn’t been there before. It was too subtle a change to mean anything, but the longer Sho looked, the more he was convinced that it did.  
  
“Is it my turn to ask you something?” Aiba said. “Why are you asking me about all of this now?”  
  
Sho shrugged. “It’s been on my mind for a few days. Call it a professional habit—I can’t help but want to dig a bit if I think something doesn’t make sense.” He shifted in his seat, hesitating for a second before adding, “I didn’t want to regret not asking later in case I never get another chance. Who knows if we’ll see each other again.”  
  
Aiba frowned. “We will,” he said. “Our job might be over, but we’re not just going to disappear.”  
  
Sho looked at him. “I hope that’s true.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
They pulled up in front of Sho’s apartment building around noon. Jun gave Sho his phone back after he woke up from his nap, so Sho had spent the last hour of their trip skimming through the staggering amount of emails that had accumulated since he’d left. He didn’t call anyone, however. His eagerness to jump back into his regular life was tempered by the thought of Aiba and Jun there with him, his companions for not much longer.  
  
Sho only had the one suitcase and his laptop bag, so there was no need to ask for any assistance in carrying his belongings up to his apartment.  
  
Even so, he lingered on the pavement after they all climbed out of the car, reluctant to say his goodbyes.  
  
“Do you want to come up for something to drink?” he said, trying to keep the desperation in his voice muted. “A cup of coffee before you have to set off again?”  
  
Aiba and Jun shared a look. It was Aiba who turned back to Sho first, a warm smile on his face.  
  
“Sure. That’ll be good.”  
  
Sho led the way into his building, feeling an odd flutter of nerves under his skin when he stepped into the elevator with Aiba and Jun. The ride up to his floor was short, but it felt long; silence stretching a slight tension between them. Attempting small talk would have only made things stranger.  
  
His apartment was exactly as he’d left it, down to the socks he’d accidentally dropped and forgotten on the floor, and the dishes still sitting on the drying rack next the sink. He walked inside to place his laptop bag on his coffee table, leaving his suitcase propped out of the way, and turned back to his guests.  
  
“So… coffee? Or something else? I’m not sure what I have but I can look and see.”  
  
Honestly, Sho wasn’t sure if he even had coffee. He hadn’t exactly thought his invitation through.  
  
Jun shook his head. “We really can’t stay.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Aiba smiled at him. “Sorry, Sho. Duty calls, y’know? But we did want to say goodbye to you properly before we go.” He stepped forward, arms coming up to circle around Sho. “Really gonna miss you.”  
  
Sho relaxed into the hug. “Me too,” he said, moving his hands to Aiba’s back. He looked at Jun as he did and hoped that Jun knew his sentiment applied to them both.  
  
Jun offered him the smallest of nods in return.  
  
After a few more seconds, Aiba pulled back. He left his arms around Sho’s body, face hovering only inches away, and it was impossible for Sho to think of anything beyond how much he was going to miss Aiba’s smile.  
  
That was, at least, until Aiba leaned forward, closing the gap between them, and pressed his lips to Sho’s.  
  
Surprise shot through his spine but quickly melted away into the warmth flooding his body, a flutter of thrill and an ache of intense satisfaction. He forgot to question what was happening as he let himself respond to the kiss, only caring about the feeling of Aiba’s soft lips moving against his own.  
  
A contented sigh had his mouth falling open, allowing Aiba inside. He shivered as Aiba stole a quick taste, chin tilting with the need to feel more.  
  
Only after Aiba broke away did Sho remember that they weren’t alone. Panicked, his eyes sought Jun, a wave of guilt causing his muscles to tense.  
  
Jun was still standing in the same position just behind Aiba, staring at them, but he didn’t look upset. He seemed… unsurprised.  
  
“Aiba,” said Jun, voice tinged with a sigh of impatience, “I thought we decided not to do this.”  
  
“No, you decided. I said you were being stupid.” Aiba twisted his body to look at Jun. “Come on, don’t pout. You’re just annoyed I kissed Sho first.”  
  
Sho’s breath caught. He stared at Jun, noting every miniscule shift in his face as he swallowed, eyes slowly drifting to meet Sho’s gaze.  
  
“Is that true?” asked Sho. “Do you…”  
  
He didn’t know how to finish his question. It didn’t matter. Jun knew exactly what Sho wanted to know; he only had to open his mouth and confirm it.  
  
He didn’t budge.  
  
Sho’s body tingled with the loss of warmth when Aiba stepped away from him, but he barely noticed. His attention was entirely focused on Jun’s face, feet moving of their own accord so he could draw closer.  
  
He reached a hand up to the side of Jun’s neck. Jun offered no response to the touch, still staring at Sho with eyes that didn’t seem to blink.  
  
“Can I kiss you, Jun?”  
  
Seconds passed with no movement. As close as he was, Sho could see the unmasked desire in Jun’s eyes, powerful enough to make him feel as though he could break the standstill at any moment.  
  
Sho waited. He wanted permission.  
  
It wasn’t really a surprise to Sho when Jun proved he wasn’t the type to take a passive approach. He angled down suddenly with eyelids dropping, only pausing to witness Sho’s sharp intake of breath before fitting their mouths together.  
  
Sho thought he should feel some sort of shame at kissing Jun immediately after kissing Aiba but he didn’t. It felt right. Jun’s kiss was more demanding than Aiba’s had been, pressing firm with none of the hesitation he’d shown before.  
  
As soon as Sho tried tightening his hold on Jun’s neck, wanting more, Jun pulled back and left him unsatisfied. The small smile on his face did little to temper Sho’s frustration.  
  
“Don’t be greedy,” he said, reaching for Sho’s hand on his neck. “We don’t have time to give you everything you want.” Jun’s gaze shifted past Sho’s face. “That’s why I said this was a bad idea.”  
  
A weight settled down onto Sho’s shoulders. “But that would have been way too sad,” Aiba insisted.  
  
“Do you really have to leave now?” asked Sho, looking at Jun.  
  
Jun’s smile was tinged with regret but his expression held firm. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“We’ll be back,” Aiba said, pressing his arms tighter around Sho. “We promise.”  
  
He moved away to stand next to Jun, leaving a hand on Sho’s arm. Jun was still holding one of Sho’s wrists.  
  
“Try not to forget about us too soon,” Aiba said.  
  
Sho smiled. “I really doubt I will.”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Three weeks on and Sho’s life returned to being much the same as it was before he met Aiba and Jun. Which was strange in itself; one might assume that a scandal involving cults, bribes and attempted assassination would make for a disruption that lasted past the initial furor.  
  
But Sho was nothing if not determined to keep his focus squarely on his work, and his superiors were keen to let the entire embarrassing incident be buried by fresher scandals. Sho didn’t even see his name mentioned once in any news reports. He wondered if that was due to the efforts of his father or his new friends in the National Intelligence Agency.  
  
Sho hadn’t managed to have any contact with Aiba or Jun since their last goodbyes at his apartment. He knew better than to expect them to show up at his office, ready to follow through on the promises they left him with, but he still felt lonely without their presence. His late night fantasies could only do so much.  
  
At least he still had Ohno to keep him company. Nino insisted he continue to act as Sho’s bodyguard for another month, and Sho didn’t put up much of a protest. He didn’t mind having Ohno around. It was nice to be in the presence of someone who never gave him any strange, wondering looks.  
  
“Must feel good to know you’ve got the day off tomorrow,” remarked Ohno as they walked back to Sho’s apartment one night.  
  
Sho laughed. “I think I’m about ready to sleep for a week.” He glanced across to shoot Ohno a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t be needing you. You can enjoy your fishing.”  
  
Ohno nodded and abruptly came to a stop. Sho halted his footsteps, turning to look at him.  
  
“I’m going to leave you here,” Ohno said. “Have a good night, Sho.”  
  
With that, he gave Sho a small smile and walked away. Sho was left watching him disappear, feeling a little confused by Ohno’s sudden exit.  
  
Though they were only twenty metres away from Sho’s building, it was unusual for Ohno not to accompany him all the way to his front door. Sho didn’t call Ohno back—he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, after all—but he did feel more alert when he continued his way down the street.  
  
After only a few steps, the doors of a parked car in front of Sho opened.  
  
The timing was too suspicious.  
  
Sho stopped, turning around to look for Ohno. He was nowhere to be found.  
  
Turning back, Sho took another careful look the car. He could see a figure emerging from the passenger’s side, closest to him. Long legs clad in stonewashed jeans, a puffy jacket and warm gloves, light brown hair bunched above a scarf.  
  
Sho recognised that hair.  
  
“Sho!” cried Aiba as soon as he was out of the car, bounding over to wrap Sho in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you,” he said into Sho’s neck.  
  
“I missed you too,” said Sho, feeling rather shell-shocked. “What are you doing here?”  
  
He glanced over Aiba’s shoulder and saw Jun on the other side of the car, wearing a hat and sunglasses despite how dark it was. Jun gave Sho a friendly nod before removing his sunglasses and closing the car door.  
  
“We’re here to see you, of course!” Aiba said. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about us already.”  
  
Sho laughed. “As if I could. I found those photos you left on my phone.”  
  
“Shh, don’t let Jun overhear. He doesn’t know about those.”  
  
“Too late,” said Jun from behind Sho. “And I want you to delete those photos.”  
  
“You don’t even know what they’re of!” protested Aiba.  
  
“I can guess.”  
  
Sho twisted out of Aiba’s hold to face Jun properly. “Hi,” he said with a smile. “I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see you again.”  
  
“Sorry to keep you waiting. We’ve been annoyingly tied up with a few things.” Jun cocked his head. “But it seems the timing has worked out well in the end,” he added, and Sho wondered if they were aware that Sho had the following day off.  
  
He wouldn’t be surprised.  
  
“Are you going to invite us up?” Aiba asked, hand slipping down Sho’s arm to lace their fingers together.  
  
Sho looked at him. “That depends,” he said, squeezing Aiba’s hand. “Are you going to stick around longer this time?”  
  
Aiba glanced over his shoulder at Jun. “What do you think, Matsujun? You’re the one in charge of our schedule.”  
  
“Our schedule is empty. The only place we have to be right now is here.”  
  
A hand pressed lightly to Sho’s back and Sho felt warmth ripple under his skin at the touch.  
  
“Let’s get going,” he said.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Sho had barely managed to take his shoes off before he felt a weight against his back and arms snaking around his waist. Unprepared and unbalanced, he almost stumbled before he could straighten.  
  
“Aiba,” Jun said with a sigh. “Can’t you be patient for once? Let Sho at least put his briefcase away.”  
  
“Oops,” Aiba said against Sho’s shoulder, though he didn’t sound too apologetic. “Do you need me to move?”  
  
Sho considered the question. He bent just enough to drop his briefcase safely to the floor, out of the way. “There,” he said, twisting around to face Aiba. “All sorted.”  
  
Jun rolled his eyes. “You’re both as bad as each other.”  
  
“What can I say? You left me waiting for weeks. I think that’s patient enough.”  
  
Aiba wasted no time in moving his hands up to cup Sho’s face, thumbs resting on his cheeks. “Is it okay if I kiss you now?” he asked.  
  
His breath was warm against Sho’s lips.  
  
“Do you have to ask?”  
  
“Jun said it was more polite.”  
  
“Really?” Sho said, looking over Aiba’s shoulder at Jun.  
  
Jun cocked an eyebrow in return and Sho smiled.  
  
“Well, consider this as me giving you permission for whatever you want to do,” he said and moved to capture Aiba’s waiting mouth in a kiss.  
  
Any attempt at slow exploration was quickly lost at the feeling of Aiba’s eager response, body pressing firm against Sho and hands tugging him closer. Their previous kiss, so fondly remembered over the past few weeks, was positively chaste in comparison. Aiba was a flickering fire spilling past his lips, sparking his entire being alight with fervent anticipation.  
  
Breathless, Sho pulled away and snuck a glance at Jun.  
  
“Do you just plan to watch?” he said.  
  
A soft puff of laughter fluttered over the side of his chin.  
  
“Jun’s a bit shy,” Aiba murmured, too quiet for Jun to hear. “He just needs some encouragement.”  
  
Sho really doubted Jun was the shy type, but he had no chance to retort with the way Aiba suddenly attached his lips to the underside of his jaw, teeth scraping over bone. All he could do was moan, head tilting back and eyes closing as Aiba worked a path down his neck.  
  
He was dimly aware of his body moving, Aiba’s hands gripping at his waist and tugging him around in a near circle. It became clear why when a solid warmth pressed against Sho’s back, fingers sliding over his stomach.  
  
Sho craned his neck so he could catch a glimpse of Jun. “You decided to join us,” he said.  
  
Jun made quick work of untucking Sho’s shirt from his trousers, giving himself access to touch Sho’s bare skin. Sho shivered at the feeling of fingertips grazing his abdomen.  
  
“You’re very difficult to resist,” Jun said, and he licked a curve around the shell of Sho’s ear.  
  
Sho lost himself in the sensation of Aiba and Jun surrounding him, giving him their full attention. He was comfortably trapped between them, just as he’d fantasised, but any fantasies he could conjure were nothing compared to the real thing.  
  
He let his moans be swallowed by Aiba’s lips, let his body relax into Jun’s firm hold. His hips were moving of their own accord, rolling back to feel Jun’s cock pressing against his ass, rutting forward to find friction from Aiba’s thigh.  
  
His clothes were discarded gradually. First his jacket and then his tie, tugged away unceremoniously, bringing him closer to what he so desperately wanted.  
  
Only when Aiba reached for the button on his pants did he come to his senses.  
  
“Wait,” he said, moving a hand to Aiba’s chest. It took him a few seconds to catch his breath. “I don’t really want to ruin this suit. And I really need to have a shower.”  
  
Aiba stilled. He dropped his hands from Sho’s pants, moving back slightly to put some space between them. Sho felt Jun mirror the action, his breath disappearing from Sho’s neck.  
  
He almost regretted making his request.  
  
“Okay,” Aiba said, pressing a brief kiss to Sho’s cheek. “Should we join you?”  
  
Sho choked out a laugh. “I seriously do need to shower. I think you’d just be a distraction.”  
  
Jun stepped away from him, moving to pull Aiba back from Sho. “You go shower,” he said to Sho before tapping Aiba’s head lightly with his hand. “Don’t be selfish.”  
  
Aiba just smiled, full of intent. “Don’t leave us waiting too long, okay?”  
  
  
\----  
  
  
As much as Sho was tempted to rush through his shower, he decided it was better to take his time. He anticipated a long night ahead of him, so he wanted to make sure he was properly prepared.  
  
He also thought it might be better to calm himself down first. Sporting an obvious erection under a flimsy towel wasn’t the easiest look to pull off with confidence.  
  
Sho expected Aiba and Jun would find some way to keep themselves occupied in his absence. He didn’t expect to enter his bedroom and find them on his bed: Jun straddling a shirtless Aiba, fingers digging into his back as he gave him a massage.  
  
Jun noticed his presence first. “You’re back,” he said, twisting his torso to look at Sho.  
  
Sho raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been busy.”  
  
“Aiba was way too tense. This is the best way to calm him down.”  
  
Aiba shifted to look at Sho, chin pressed against his shoulder. “Matsujun gives the best massages. You should let him do you.”  
  
Sho had to bite his lip so not to laugh. Knowing how Aiba was, he didn’t think the innuendo was even intentional.  
  
He did think it sounded like a good idea in any case. Whichever way he chose to take it.  
  
Jun leaned back, hands coming to rest above Aiba’s hips. “Do you want to switch?” he asked Sho.  
  
Sho hesitated. There was still a subtle current of awkwardness between him and Jun—not so strong to make him doubt his desires, but enough for him to find it difficult to boldly declare them.  
  
He felt as though he constantly needed to ask permission before taking any steps. Or maybe he didn’t want to ask at all. Maybe he just wanted Jun to take initiative; to exhibit some of the confident authority that characterised so much of his behaviour around Sho.  
  
That was a dynamic Sho could feel comfortable slipping into with Jun.  
  
After holding Sho’s gaze for a moment longer, Jun shifted to climb off Aiba. “Get up,” he said to Aiba, tapping the side of his hip. “It’s Sho’s turn now.”  
  
He glanced back at Sho, daring him to disagree, and— _oh_. There it was. That was what he wanted. Sho felt the tension in his body relax at the way Jun so naturally took control of the situation.  
  
Hesitation fading, he moved to take Aiba’s position on the bed. The sheets were warm against his bare skin, and when he pressed his face against the pillows, he could detect faint traces of Aiba’s scent still lingering.  
  
A heavy weight settled atop his thighs—Jun’s weight. Sho could feel the rough fabric of his trousers against the skin left uncovered by his towel.  
  
He folded his arms underneath his head and turned his face to the side, waiting.  
  
The first touch came just above his tailbone: Jun’s palms placed flat against his skin. They slid slowly up Sho’s back, parallel lines running either side of his spine, to reach his shoulders before returning. Without any oil, there was some friction, but Sho didn’t find it hampered the experience. Jun seemed to know just the right amount pressure to apply to reach the perfect spot between gentle and firm.  
  
“You have really sloping shoulders,” Jun commented as he began rubbing the heels of his palms in slow circles over Sho’s skin.  
  
“Shut up,” Sho mumbled.  
  
The mattress dipped beside Sho but he didn’t open his eyes. Warmth fanned over his cheek followed by soft lips at the corner of his mouth. He tilted into the kiss, relishing the taste of Aiba on his tongue.  
  
“Feel good?” Aiba asked.  
  
“Mm. Yeah.”  
  
“You look like you might fall asleep any second now.”  
  
“Maybe I will.” Sho sniffed, shoulders flexing as he shifted slightly. “Tired. Too much work.”  
  
Aiba’s teeth grazed over the edge of his jaw. “Should we leave you then? Let you get some rest?”  
  
“Don’t you dare,” said Sho, eyes opening to meet Aiba’s. “I’ll be fine. I still want everything I was promised.”  
  
Jun’s hands were on his lower back, fingers hooked under the edge of his towel. Sho’s could feel his breathing growing heavier as Jun tugged at the material, working it down to expose the top of Sho’s ass.  
  
Aiba propped himself up on his elbow, lips moving frustratingly out of reach. “And what exactly do you want, Sho?” he asked, fingers grazing over the side of Sho’s ribcage. “Tell me.”  
  
It was difficult to concentrate on Aiba’s request when Jun was massaging his ass, a thumb brushing dangerously over the crack. Aiba started tracing light patterns over his skin, eyes sparkling as he observed Sho, and that didn’t help any either.  
  
“I’m not sure,” he said, struggling to keep his voice even. “I think I’m… still getting used to the idea that this is really happening. I never expected it.”  
  
“Really?” said Aiba. “I always knew it would.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Jun snorted, hands stilling their movements. “No you did not. You just wanted it to happen.”  
  
“So? I wanted it and now it’s happening. Same thing, really—you need to develop a more positive mindset, Matsujun.” Aiba flashed Sho a grin. “Gotta make your wants reality or you’ll end up disappointed.”  
  
Sho raised his eyebrows in return. “So then... what is that you want?”  
  
“Well, for starters, I want to keep kissing you,” he said and did just that, lips finding Sho’s cheek. “And I want to touch you.” He reached his hand for Sho’s back and ran two fingers down the length of his spine, light enough to make Sho shiver. “Everywhere,” he added, voice low, as he brushed his fingers over Sho’s ass.  
  
Sho felt Jun’s hands move to make space for Aiba, pulling the towel down further. The fabric tugged uncomfortably at his hardening cock and Sho lifted his hips so it could be removed entirely, sighing loudly once his cock was freed.  
  
Aiba and Jun kept their touches teasing, avoiding the places Sho wanted to feel them most. Jun fit his palms over the curves of Sho’s ass, fingertips digging into flesh as he spread his cheeks, and Aiba slipped a finger through the gap. He kept frustratingly shy 0f making proper contact, ghosting over Sho’s perineum.  
  
It took all of Sho’s self-control not to buck his hips. Heat flushed along his spine and back down to his cock, pooling in his belly. Jun’s massage had relaxed most of the tension in his body but now it was returning with the heady thrill of anticipation. He wanted more.  
  
He released a breath in a soft moan to signal his encouragement.  
  
Aiba dropped back down close to Sho. “Do you like it when we touch you like this?” he said.  
  
“I’d like it more if you stopped playing.”  
  
Jun tightened his fingers at Sho’s comment, a sharp squeeze of admonition. Sho couldn’t help but respond, hips jerking.  
  
“Careful,” Aiba said with a smile. “Jun doesn’t like to be rushed.” He leaned closer, lips grazing over Sho’s cheekbone toward his ear. “Or maybe you don’t care? You always liked to provoke him.”  
  
“Aiba…”  
  
“Masaki,” Aiba whispered. “Call me Masaki. The way you did before.”  
  
“Masaki,” Sho said, and he hadn’t known how desperate he could sound just by saying a name. “ _Masaki_.”  
  
Coherent sentences eluded him but Aiba didn’t seem to need more to understand. “Lube?” he asked with a small quirk of his head.  
  
“Side table,” Sho managed. “Top drawer.”  
  
Aiba kissed him once before disappearing. Sho barely noticed. He was too distracted by Jun choosing that moment to press a thumb to his entrance, the dry digit circling over sensitive skin.  
  
“Is this okay?” asked Jun, sounding oddly polite for someone who had been groping his ass without hesitation for a solid ten minutes.  
  
Sho huffed, trying to control his breathing. “I already gave my permission for anything you want to do, remember? I trust you.”  
  
Jun stilled. “You should be more careful about what ‘anything’ could mean.” He shifted, and Sho felt the fabric of Jun’s trousers brush against his bare skin as Jun reached down to press his lips to the back of Sho’s neck. “Thank you,” Jun said, quiet and sincere. “Tell me if you need to stop.”  
  
Sho cursed his lack of flexibility for preventing him from reaching behind to stop Jun before he moved away. He wanted Jun to continue what he was doing, but he also longed to hold his face in his hands. He wanted try to kiss his stiffness away.  
  
He idly wondered how different Jun was when it was just him and Aiba. Did he push Aiba down against the mattress and laugh as he trailed kisses down his skin? Or did he lie back with his body stretched taut and beg for Aiba to touch him? Jealousy coiled through Sho’s stomach at the thought of them together without him.  
  
He was with them now. It might only be one night, but he wasn’t going to waste it.  
  
As Aiba, climbed back onto the bed, Sho extended an arm to stop him.  
  
“I want to watch,” he said, arching his neck to look at Aiba.  
  
“You mean you want watch us touch you?”  
  
Sho flushed slightly. “Yes.” He didn’t much care if he sounded too eager.  
  
Aiba just smiled. “Okay.” He turned his gaze to Jun. “That’s fine with you isn’t it, Matsujun? I know how much you like Sho’s ass, but I’m sure you’ll get to touch it more later.”  
  
Sho wished he could look at Jun’s face properly right then. He wasn’t about to doubt Aiba’s honesty, but he was surprised by the casual admission of Jun’s supposed interest.  
  
He couldn’t say he wasn’t pleased to learn of it.  
  
Jun’s only response was to lift himself away from where he’d been straddling Sho’s thighs, giving Sho freedom to move. Sho wasted no time in rolling over onto his back. His cock was hard and heavy against his stomach, throbbing with the sudden shift. Reaching down to grasp it was a reflexive action.  
  
A hand immediately shot out to clasp Sho’s wrist.  
  
“Don’t,” said Jun, eyes focused on Sho. “Please,” he added. “We’re taking care of you tonight.”  
  
His hold loosened and he didn’t try to pull Sho’s hand off his cock. He was giving Sho the freedom of choice, though Sho didn’t see any choice he planned to take other than to obey his wishes.  
  
Sho moved his hand away from his cock, still locked in a stare with Jun.  
  
“What should I do with my hands?” he asked.  
  
Jun’s eyes flickered.  
  
“Above your head,” he said, voice low. “Keep them there.”  
  
Sho raised his arms slowly. “There’s nothing to hold on to,” he remarked, half a question. Sho’s bed had no convenient headboard to grasp.  
  
Jun said nothing.  
  
Sho let his hands come to rest at the top of his pillow, the fingers on one hand circled around the wrist of another. Apparently, he would be needing to test his own limits of self-control.  
  
“So good,” Aiba cooed, bending down to kiss him. “You’re definitely making Jun very happy right now,” he whispered once he was close, soft enough for Jun not to hear.  
  
Sho turned his head, eyebrows raised. “You know that from experience?”  
  
Aiba laughed. “No. I’m not very good at following orders.”  
  
Sho wasn’t always either—his clashes with Jun in the past proved as much. But those clashes had been with a Jun he hadn’t known whether he liked or trusted much. The Jun he was faced with now was different.  
  
Sho wanted to know how it felt to give in to Jun’s control instead of fighting.  
  
“Do you have any special requests for me?” he asked Aiba.  
  
“No.” Aiba smiled. “I’m just happy to have a hot guy all laid out for me.” He lifted back up, giving Sho a sweeping glance. “You look even better with your clothes off.”  
  
Aiba moved down the bed, nudging Jun out of the way so he could steal his spot in between Sho’s legs. “You, on the other hand, are wearing too many clothes,” he complained. “Go take them off.”  
  
Aiba had lost his pants sometime after he gave up his massage position to Sho, though Sho thought briefs were still too much to be wearing when he himself had been naked for a long time now.  
  
“Are you seriously just shoving me away like this?” said Jun. “It’s not a race, Masaki. I can take my clothes off in my own time.”  
  
“No, now,” Aiba said. “You need to be more naked. And I’ve been leaving Sho waiting too long.” He reached a hand up to cup Jun’s chin, tilting his face closer. “Don’t pout.”  
  
Aiba kissed Jun then, open-mouthed and unrestrained.  
  
As far as distractions went, Sho couldn’t say he minded it.  
  
“Wasn’t pouting,” Jun grumbled after he pulled away, but he was smiling.  
  
Aiba was smiling, too, as he settled onto his knees in front of Sho. He hooked his hands under Sho’s thighs and pushed them up, smoothing his palms over skin.  
  
Sho watched as Aiba uncapped the bottle of lube in his hands and tipped it onto his fingers—long fingers that wasted no time in reaching for Sho. The cool sensation trickling over his skin made him shiver, but the warmth of Aiba’s fingers slowly seeped through as they pressed against him.  
  
“So hot,” Aiba murmured as he pushed the tip of a finger past muscle. “You’re so hot for me, Sho.”  
  
Sho could feel it: fire coursing through his body at Aiba’s touch, making his cheeks flush. The first, slick finger slid inside of him with less resistance than he expected considering how long it had been since he’d last been fucked. Aiba pumped his finger slowly, giving Sho plenty of time to adjust.  
  
His eyes drifted across to Jun, standing next to the bed. He was taking his time to undress, shirt and pants folded up neatly and placed on top of the dresser nearby.  
  
Sho waited until Jun returned his gaze. When he did, Sho held the stare, willing Jun to come closer.  
  
Their telepathy needed work: Jun stayed where he was with his on his hips. He curled his thumbs under the waistband of his briefs and lowered them slowly, not even the slightest bit bashful as he stripped himself naked for Sho.  
  
Sho could live with not having his silent requests met when Jun had such good ideas of his own.  
  
Aiba chose that moment to work a second finger in, stroking and stretching Sho open. Sho’s eyes fluttered shut and his head tilted back as his hips rose off the bed. He could barely contain his moans.  
  
When he managed to force his eyes open again, Jun had moved closer. He stared down at Sho with an intensity that made Sho’s mouth feel dry.  
  
It was hard not to reach out for Jun’s cock, so tempting before him. Sho’s muscles tensed, and he forced his hands to stay where they were. Jun wouldn’t like it if he caved so easily. He didn’t want to disappoint.  
  
“You realise,” he said, swallowing to try to lubricate his dry throat, “I haven’t had the chance to kiss you properly yet.”  
  
Jun cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”  
  
His gaze travelled a slow path down Sho’s body, a measured inspection, before returning to focus on his mouth. Sho warmed with pleasure at the untempered lust and satisfaction he saw in Jun’s eyes. Despite any awkwardness still lingering between them, Jun wanted him as much as Aiba did. As much as Sho wanted both of them.  
  
He just needed to show that through his actions.  
  
Taking his time, Jun climbed half onto the bed, one knee bent underneath him, and leaned down. Fingers pressed under Sho’s chin, lifting it up. Sho waited for his next move with breaths coming short.  
  
He only closed his eyes when he felt Jun’s lips touch his.  
  
Jun dragged his lips over Sho’s mouth, teeth catching on the inside of his bottom lip and sucking it inside. He was slow but thorough with his exploration: tongue delving past teeth and licking into every crevice, mouth sliding across Sho’s, hot and wet and slightly rough where his stubble made contact.  
  
Sho moaned and Jun pressed harder. The hand not gripping Sho’s chin moved to clutch his hands above his head, fitting over the place where Sho had them joined.  
  
Jun left his hand there when he pulled away.  
  
“I do really like your ass,” he said, breath tingling over Sho’s face. “But I also really like your mouth.”  
  
Sho stared at him, chest heaving with the effort of staying in control when Aiba was still working him open. He had three fingers inside Sho now, fucking him slowly.  
  
It would only be so long until Sho was begging for more than Aiba’s fingers.  
  
“There’s more I can do with my mouth than just kissing,” he said once he was sure his voice wouldn’t falter.  
  
He let his eyes drop down obviously to Jun’s cock, almost hidden by the awkward way he had propped himself atop the bed.  
  
Jun remained still for a moment. He shifted his grip on Sho’s wrist and pushed up, moving his full weight onto the mattress and sliding closer.  
  
All signs pointed to Sho finally getting what he wanted until Jun hesitated.  
  
“Condom,” he said.  
  
Sho blinked. “You’re—”  
  
“Clean. But—”  
  
Frustration caused Sho to shake his head with a little more vigour than was necessary. “No,” he said, and then reconsidered. “Unless you… but not for my sake.” His words were coming too strangled but he persisted. “I trust you, remember?”  
  
Though he was hardly expressing himself clearly, Jun understood. He held his gaze steady on Sho and reached to grasp his cock, hand circled around the base.  
  
His other hand on Sho’s wrist tightened at the same time, mirroring the gesture.  
  
“Are you sure? This is what you want?”  
  
Sho exhaled. “Yes.”  
  
Jun shifted closer. He angled his cock down so the tip was hovering just before Sho’s lips, only needing the slightest movement for Sho to be able to taste it.  
  
He wanted to close the gap. He waited.  
  
“Keep still,” Jun said and, finally, he moved.  
  
He pushed the head of his cock against Sho’s partially open mouth and drew back, sliding it over his lips before repeating the action. Each gradual movement Jun made came with a slight change in direction, different levels of pressure, but always a steady tempo. Precome smeared across the seam of Sho’s lips when Jun angled his cock a particular way, and the tiny amount of moisture spread, alleviating some of the friction Jun surely had to feel.  
  
He was playing, but still deeply serious. Sho could see it in his expression when he managed to glance up at Jun’s face.  
  
The strain of remaining still when he was being teased so thoroughly by both Aiba and Jun had saliva pooling in his mouth. His tongue felt thick and heavy, pushed back so he could feel it against his soft palate. Swallowing was too much of a difficulty.  
  
Jun pulled away. “Open,” he said, and Sho complied.  
  
He ached with the desire to close his lips around Jun’s cock as it slid across his tongue, wanting to suck at the head and lick a stroke up to the tip. He resisted the urge. He didn’t know whether Jun wanted that from him.  
  
After only a brief, shallow thrust inside Sho’s mouth, Jun withdrew. He relaxed his hold on Sho’s wrist, moving his hand down over skin and through Sho’s hair, coming to rest on the side of his forehead.  
  
Sho looked up at Jun, confusion pressing his brows together.  
  
“You can move now if you want,” Jun said, tucking a lock of hair behind Sho’s ear. “Don’t push too hard if you feel uncomfortable.”  
  
There was nothing beyond a look of genuine concern behind Jun’s offer. Sho let his head drop back for a moment so he could take a deep breath and refocus, swallowing away some of the tension in his jaw.  
  
He spared a glance over at Aiba at the other end of the bed. Aiba’s movements had slowed almost to a stop; he was watching them from between Sho’s legs, eyes dark with interest.  
  
If Aiba wanted a show, then they could certainly provide one for him.  
  
Sho adjusted the angle of his head to allow for the best possible access, mouth opening wide once more. He didn’t say a word because there was no need. This time, when Jun pushed his cock past Sho’s lips, Sho responded exactly the way he wanted to.  
  
The feeling of Jun’s cock in his mouth was more intoxicating when he allowed himself to taste it fully.  
  
Jun had his own rhythm, but Sho was able to guide it, gradually finding a point of synchronisation. He rolled his hips in time with Jun’s shallow thrusts, and Aiba’s fingers followed their lead.  
  
They moved in tandem; not with any perfection, but for Sho it was more than enough. Aiba would twist his fingers suddenly and Sho would moan around Jun’s cock, letting him side deeper. Jun would somehow manage to reach over to pinch one of Sho’s nipples and Sho’s hips would jerk off the mattress, disrupting their tempo for a few seconds before they could find it again.  
  
Their pace increased, becoming more insistent, until Sho felt he was about to break. He lost control to the sensations coming from Jun’s cock, Aiba’s touch, both of their breaths cascading through the room in a thick symphony of lust.  
  
He didn’t know how much longer he could last.  
  
As if able to read his mind, Jun slipped his cock out of Sho’s mouth and gave him the chance to breathe.  
  
Sho gasped more than anything as he tried to remember how to form words. “Aiba… Masaki… _fuck_. I need… more, I need…”  
  
“What do you need, Sho?” Aiba said and it was ridiculous how innocent a tone he managed considering the situation.  
  
“I think Sho needs you to fuck him with your cock now,” offered Jun.  
  
“Is that it, Sho?”  
  
Sho swung one of his bent legs haphazardly in a halfhearted attempt to hit Aiba. “ _Yes_ ,” he forced out for good measure.  
  
“Okay!” Aiba pulled his fingers out slowly and then stopped. “I, uh… need a condom.”  
  
Sho had his eyes closed or else he was sure he would have seen Jun’s glare. As it was, he could hear the frustrated noise he made.  
  
“Why wouldn’t you get one when you got the lube?”  
  
“Um, I forgot?”  
  
Jun sighed.  
  
Aiba shifted, fingers sliding out of Sho with little care, and Sho hissed.  
  
“Stop,” said Jun. “I’ll get it. You stay here.”  
  
Jun’s weight disappeared from the bed. Sho opened his eyes with every intention of sending Jun a look to convey his gratitude, but he was immediately distracted by Aiba moving up his body, forearms coming to rest across his shoulder blades.  
  
“Sorry,” Aiba said before dropping down to kiss Sho, soft and sweet. “Sorry,” he said again and he wrapped a hand around Sho’s cock, pumping him with long strokes.  
  
Sho appreciated Aiba’s way of apologising.  
  
“You wouldn’t have to apologise so much if you just thought more to begin with,” Jun said as he rejoined them on the bed, pulling Aiba back up with a hand to his shoulder.  
  
Aiba smiled brightly at him. “But you’re here to fix everything, so it’s okay!”  
  
He turned back to Sho and placed his hands flat against his stomach. “Now there’s no need for delay anymore,” he said, palms smoothing over skin. “Just a question of _how_.”  
  
Sho looked at them: Aiba touching his stomach and Jun just behind him with a hand on Aiba’s hip, both staring back at Sho and waiting.  
  
“Between you,” he said as he relaxed his arms still being held above his head and reached out to touch Aiba and Jun for the first time in too long. Each took one of his extended hands within their own, fingers wrapped firm.  
  
“I don’t care exactly how, just… between you.”  
  
Aiba turned to glance over his shoulder at Jun. Jun’s brow creased for a second before he nodded toward the end of the bed.  
  
“Sit behind Sho,” he said to Aiba. “After we get him up.”  
  
There was a lot of shifting and tugging then, firm hands easing Sho onto his knees as Aiba slipped behind him. Jun pulled him forward, not missing the opportunity to grab his ass as he pushed Sho’s knees apart.  
  
“Hold onto me,” said Jun and he moved Sho’s hands up to rest atop his shoulders.  
  
Sho felt Aiba’s cock bump his thigh as he settled into position. He squirmed, wanting to press down; wanting to feel Aiba’s cock inside of him, finally.  
  
“Steady,” murmured Aiba, hands slotting over Jun’s on Sho’s ass. “No need to rush.”  
  
There may have been no need to rush from Aiba’s perspective, but for Sho, he felt as though there was. His body trembled, not from exertion but from his desperation, struggling to maintain control.  
  
Aiba and Jun were there to maintain it for him. They held him tightly between them as they slowly let him sink down onto Aiba’s waiting cock, reassurances and praises coming in whispers that seeped through his skin.  
  
Once he had seated himself fully, groaning at the feeling of Aiba stretching him open, he paused. Sho was exactly where he’d been wanting to be. He was caught in between Aiba and Jun, hands clutching his hips and another curled possessively around the back of his neck, heat enveloping him from every side.  
  
He shifted forward slightly, fingers digging into Jun’s shoulders, and he groaned again.  
  
A hand wrapped around his cock, lifting it away from his stomach. “Ready to move?” asked Jun as he thumbed the slit of Sho’s cock. “Try.”  
  
He did. He pushed himself up before sinking back, testing the limits of his movements in his position. Aiba readjusted slightly behind him and started thrusting. Each shallow jolt had Sho gripping Jun harder and his breaths coming heavy, garbled moans bubbling through his throat.  
  
He rocked between them; slowly at first, but it wasn’t long before the pace quickened. It became impossible for Sho to attempt anything much beyond the instinctive movements of his hips, losing himself to the sensation of being fucked. At some point, he had at least enough presence of mind to move one of his hands to Jun’s cock, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. He was too close not to come first.  
  
The last vestiges of his control were used to try to bring Aiba along with him. He tightened his muscles around Aiba’s cock as he thrust, pleased when he felt Aiba’s fingers digging into his hips in response. Sweat was dripping off his forehead with the exertion, but Sho wanted to stave off his release a little longer.  
  
Feeling Aiba shudder behind him made him break.  
  
He spilled into Jun’s hand with a cry as he rode out his orgasm. Aiba was still moving inside of him and their bodies stuttered and slumped, Sho coming to collapse into Jun’s waiting hold.  
  
Jun’s skin was just as sweat-drenched and sticky as Sho’s was. Sho pressed his face closer to Jun’s neck and inhaled the scent as he came to his senses.  
  
Little encouragement was needed to get Sho onto his back, sore limbs unfolding and head relaxing against a pillow. Jun let him go as soon as he was settled but Aiba was there beside him; too warm, but Sho didn’t mind.  
  
“Where are you going?” he asked Jun as he moved away.  
  
“Towel.” Jun paused and bent down to kiss Sho briefly. “Don’t fall asleep on me.”  
  
As exhausted as he felt, Sho had no intentions of sleeping. Jun’s hard cock was a reminder that they were not finished yet.  
  
“Our Matsujun is a very considerate person, isn’t he?” Aiba said as he shuffled closer to Sho, an arm sliding over his chest.  
  
Sho murmured a response. He watched Jun clamber across the bed, reaching over the side to find the towel Sho had discarded earlier.  
  
“Not the type to leave clean-up till morning?”  
  
The patterns Aiba had been tracing on the inside of his arm slowed and stopped.  
  
“I guess not.”  
  
Sho turned his head to face him. “Haven’t you—”  
  
“No.” Aiba smiled, leaning closer. “Jun wanted to wait until we had the chance to see you again. I think he’s secretly the romantic type.”  
  
His nose scrunched as Jun hit the back of his head lightly with the bundled towel in his hand.  
  
“I was complimenting you!” Aiba protested.  
  
“You talk too much.”  
  
Sho eyed Jun speculatively, but Jun wouldn’t return his gaze as he leaned across to wipe the towel over Sho’s stomach.  
  
Though Jun seemed uncomfortable with having his true feelings exposed, the knowledge that Aiba and Jun had chosen to wait for him settled warm in Sho’s chest. He hadn’t been holding any illusions or expectations, but Aiba and Jun kept acting in ways to make him hope for improbabilities.  
  
Then again, he thought, their entire relationship had been riddled with improbable events. Maybe it wasn’t asking too much to want a few more.  
  
“Technically, Matsujun and I still haven’t had sex,” Aiba said. “That was really more us having sex with you at the same time, right?”  
  
Sho raised his eyebrows. “Well, Jun still needs to come. Maybe you should do something about that.”  
  
Aiba grinned. “You’re always so smart.”  
  
With surprising agility, Aiba sprung up and took hold of Jun, manoeuvring him onto his back next to Sho. He shifted until he was settled in between Jun’s legs, arms braced across his pelvis.  
  
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Aiba said before dropping down to lick a long line up the shaft of Jun’s cock.  
  
“ _Fuck_ ,” Jun hissed. “Aiba, don’t tease.”  
  
Aiba’s only response was to close his lips over the tip of Jun’s cock, a glint of amusement in his eyes as he sucked.  
  
“Don’t complain,” Sho said, shifting onto his side so he was closer to Jun. “We’re about to spoil you. Just like you spoiled me and how we’re going to spoil Aiba later. And then we’re going to sleep and do it all over again in the morning.”  
  
He reached across Jun’s chest and circled a nipple with light touches of his fingers.  
  
“You snore in your sleep,” Jun said, barely holding back from gasping.  
  
Sho laughed. “Then I guess we better make sure to tire you out enough that you won’t notice.”  
  
He glanced down the bed at Aiba, still teasing Jun, and met his eyes.  
  
Sho smiled. He didn’t know what would happen after tomorrow morning, but for now, he was going to enjoy himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I always find OT3s difficult in terms of getting the balance right, so if there are parts that didn't work so well, don't hesitate to tell me :)


End file.
